Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Foxes
by kyugan
Summary: A rewriting of the epic Tactical Espionage Mission: Join Solid fox as he infiltrates a captured facility, will he rescue the hostages and ward of nuclear armagedon?
1. Chapter 1

First off, this was done as a request from a friend, so please don't get stroppy.

That said, any suggestions for casting would be a big help.

* * *

File 1. Briefing for Briefs.

The room was dark, lit by a dim bulb on the ceiling directly over the sole occupant. He sat on the edge of the medical bed, the floor rocking from side to side beneath him slightly. They'd brought him on a ship then, it certainly explained the slight unease in his stomach. Though it might also have something to do with the fact he was currently buck naked, and the last time he'd checked there'd been a blizzard going on outside.

'Teach me to let my guard down getting out of the damn shower.' The man muttered, kicking himself for literaly being caught with his pants down, looking up with a scowl as the door to the room opened, admitting a figure in Konoha military fatigues, flanked by several grunts he recognised from the ambush, from the looks of things they still couldn;t walk straight.

"It's been a long time Fox." The figure greeted calmly, a smile on his weathered face that earned a snort from the shorter blonde.

"I should've known you were behind this Colonel." Fox muttered, eyeing the older blonde with a neutral scowl from behind his mane of unruly blonde hair. He hadn't seen Colonel Yamanaka Inoichi for some time now, but the man wore his dress uniform as well as ever, even with a few streaks of grey in his non-regulation ponytail.

"That's no way to greet and old war buddy Fox." Yamanaka countered warmly, only to blink as he met the younger blonde's unflinching glare.

"What do you want from me?" Fox demanded, looking into his one-time superior's eyes coldly "And it better not be the reason I'm 'au natural' at the moment."

"Not one for going commando are we?" Yamanaka joked, flinching as Fox's hackles rose warningly "Relax, I just invited you out here so we could talk."

"Invited?!" the naked man repeated "That's what you call sending armed soldiers after me?! You're paying for that damn door by the way."

"Sorry if they were a little rough," Yamanaka offered sincerely, nodding at the bruised soldiers with a wry smile "but you DID give them hell before they knocked you out." He frowned "All joking aside, we have a serious situation on our hands, and you're the only one that can get us out of it."

"Last I checked, I retired from ANBU-HOUND," Fox countered with a snort "You aren't my commander anymore, and I don't have to take orders from you, or anyone else."

"You WILL take these orders," Yamanaka insisted confidently as he walked in front of the blonde "I know it...for one you wont be getting a pair of pants till you do."

Fox scowled at the joke, only to look up as a woman excused herself, entering the room with several things on a tray "This is Dr. Shizune." The colonel introduced, nodding at the good doctor "She's the chief medical specialist on ANBU-HOUND's medical staff, and an expert on gene therapy."

"You're military?" Fox asked, eyeing the pretty brunette suspiciously, noting her youngish features and shapely figure under her pullover and medical coat.

"Civilian actually," Shizune replied honestly, placing the tray near his bed "I was sent here by the KTGC, a pleasure to meet you." Reaching for a needle, she pushed the air out and motioned for his arm "Don't worry," she assured the suspicious blonde "This won't hurt a bit."

"What's the shot for?" Fox asked, eyeing her warily as she tied off his arm to raise a vein, tapping it to make it visible.

"What's wrong?" Shizune asked teasingly "Don't like shots?" she didn't wait for a reply as she injected him with the contents of the needle.

"Listen Up Fox." The colonel cut in, drawing the younger man's attention away from the doctor "It all went down five hours ago; heavily armed soldiers occupied Shadow Mosses island, a remote island off the coast of Yuki no Kuni."

"What soldiers?" Fox demanded, face settling into a focused stare that the colonel hadn't seen in years.

"Next generation special forces," Yamanaka supplied "Led by members of ANBU-HOUND. They've presented Konoha with a single demand, and claim that if it isn't met, they'll launch a MCW."

"Mass Chakra weapon?" Fox repeated, a shiver running down his spine. Whilst weapons that ran on chakra were nothing new to him, they were the work of a twisted genius, capable of wiping out whole countries if used correctly. "ANBU-HOUND hijacking a Mass Chakra Weapon?"

"Now you understand the seriousness of our situation." Yamanaka noted grimly, nodding to one of the guards that had come in with him as a projector was turned on. "You'll have two mission objectives," he explained as a slide came up "First, you're to rescue the DARPA Chief, Homura." The slide changed to reveal another man "And the President of ArmsTech, Gato. Both are being held as hostages."

"Those are some heavy-duty hostages." Fox muttered, memorizing every detail of their faces by instinct, but refusing to let his interest show.

"Secondly," Yamanaka continued "You're to investigate whether or not the terrorists have the ability to launch an MC strike, and stop them if they do." He regarded the man carefully "Any questions Fox?"

"Questions?" Fox repeated with a grunt, raising an eyebrow at the man "I haven't even said I'd accept this mission, what does any of this have to do with me." He twitched his head towards the guards "Why not send some of these guys, you're not hurting for raw muscle." He snorted "God knows it only took twenty to hold me down."

--

The colonel shot the annoyed guards a look to silence them, before sighing and turning to regard the younger man resignedly "Well, don't make up your mind until after you hear more about the situation." He asked, looking Fox in the eye calmly, until the younger man looked away with a grunt.

"Tell me about the Island." Fox asked at length, regarding Yamanaka out the corner of his eye "I'm guessing that they didn't just choose it for the scenery."

"You're right," the colonel agreed, pulling up another slide "The island is in actuality a disposal facility for MC weapons, and includes a hardened underground base." He nodded at an overhead slide of the facility "Even with our most advanced intelligence gathering equipment, we can't tell what's going on inside."

"Meaning someone has to penetrate, gather intelligence and report back." Fox noted, snorting derisively "Sounds like a Bond movie." He muttered, before regarding the older blonde with a frown "What's the insertion method?"

"Well, with this storm an air insertion is pretty much out of the question." The colonel noted, wincing as the ship rocked slightly "So we're going to approach the facility by sub."

"Approach?" Fox repeated, not liking the sound of things thus far as Shizune continued to fuss over him with needles and bandages.

"Within a few miles of it," Yamanaka elaborated, "the facility is equipped with sonar-detection capability. They'd be able to hear our engine or propeller noise. After we get close, we'll launch a one-man SDV."

"Launch?" Fox repeated, sitting up a little straighter and wincing as one of Shizune's needles pricked him, shooting the apologetic medic a glare.

"Same as a torpedo, only without a propulsion system of it's own." Yamanaka explained to the man "After the SDV gets as close as it can, dispose of it. From there on you'll have to swim."

"You expect me to SWIM in Sub-Zero water?" Fox asked, a deadpan expression on his face "You DO recall how Yuki-no-kuni got its name right? And last I checked I left my shorts back home."

"Relax, the suit you'll be wearing represents the latest in poly-thermal technology." The colonel assured him, nodding as a soldier came in, opening a briefcase to reveal a strange suit. Grey, skintight fabric with a black flack jacket, orange trim around the edges "the disposal facility covers the whole island, I'll contact you by Codec after you reach the target."

"Anyone going with me?" Fox asked, actually feeling a sense of relief as the colonel shook his head "And I suppose weapons and equipment are OSP?"

"Yes, this is a top-secret black op." the colonel admitted, regarding the semi-naked man carefully "Don't expect any official support."

Fox nodded, having expected as much. Hi-no-Kuni certainly couldn't get its hands dirty now could they? "What business could the DARPA chief and the president of an arms manufacturing company have at an MCW disposal facility?" he asked, looking at the Colonel for answers.

"Secret exercises were being conducted at the same time the terrorists attacked." Colonel Yamanaka admitted.

'Must be pretty damn important exercises if THOSE two were directly involved' Fox muttered. Leaders rarely got their own hands dirty unless they had to. "Could they have been testing some new type of weapon?" he asked.

"I'm not privy to that information." Yamanaka replied honestly, earning a look from the younger man.

"Well, do you at least know where the hostages are being located?" Fox asked, shooting the man a look of warning not to get his hopes up "If I DO accept this mission I don't feel like sneaking around freezing my balls off surrounded by hostiles."

"The DARPA chief has also been injected with a mini-transmitter." Shizune assured the man, drawing his attention "As you get close, it should be possible to pick him up on your radar."

--

'Radar?' Fox repeated numbly, wondering what on earth the woman was on about before shrugging it off and turning to the Colonel "Do they really have the capability to launch?"

"They say they do." Yamanaka admitted grimly "They even gave us the serial number of the warhead they plan to use." He shook his head "The number was verified, at the very least, they've got their hands on an actual MC warhead."

Fox shivered at this, before shaking himself and looking at the colonel "I thought all the warheads were equipped with safety devices to prevent this kind of terrorism." He asked, to which the Colonel nodded.

"Every missile and warhead currently in our arsenal is equipped with a PAL, which uses a discreet detonation code." He grimaced "Unfortunately, the DARPA chief knows the detonation code, so we can't rest easy."

"But even if they have a warhead, it must've been removed from its missile." Fox reminded the man "all the missiles on these disposal sites are supposed to be dismantled. It's not that easy to get your hands on an ICBM."

"That used to be true." Yamanaka admitted with a hint of bitterness "but since the cold war, you can get anything if you have enough money and the right connections."

"Great," Fox groused, putting a hand over his eyes and running it through his mane of blonde hair in exasperation "So what exactly are they demanding? I doubt it's better wages or dental."

"A person's remains." Col. Yamanaka revealed, a hint of disgust in his tone "To be more accurate, cell specimens that contain the individuals genomic information."

"Cell specimens?" Fox repeated, looking more confused by the second "What the hell do they need those for?"

"The terrorists need them." the colonel supplied "You see, these Next Generation Special Forces have been strengthened through Gene therapy." He nodded at the man "You've heard of the Human Genome Project right? They've nearly finished mapping the human genome. Following up on this, the military has been working toward identifying those genes responsible for creating effective soldiers."

"There are genes that can do that?" Fox asked, looking at his former commander in disbelief as the man nodded.

"And using gene therapy, they're able to transplant those same genes into regular soldiers." Yamanaka revealed, only to sigh at the confused look on the younger man's face.

"I'll explain," Shizune spoke up, drawing the confused blonde's attention "With gene therapy, we can remove those genes which we know may lead to sickness or disease, and at the same time, splice in genes with beneficial effects, like resistance to cancer for example."

"In other words," the colonel elaborated "we can overcome all sorts of genetic diseases, and at the same time add genetic characteristics as desired."

"Okay," Fox reasoned slowly, still coming to grips with the information "so if you knew what genes were responsible for creating the perfect soldier, you could implant them in the same way, right?"

"But it all depends on being able to isolate, and identify, those 'soldier genes'." The colonel agreed with a nod.

"And in order to do that," Shizune supplied from the side "it's helpful to study the genomic information of one of the greatest soldiers ever."

"One of the greatest ever?" Fox repeated, a sinking feeling rising up from the pit of his stomach as he looked between the two accusingly "Hold on…don't tell me…not Danna?!"

"That's right," Naomi admitted "we've been working feverishly to identify the genes responsible for his incredible combat skill, and so far have identified sixty of the so-called 'soldier genes'."

"So his body was recovered after all." Fox muttered grimly, recalling his last encounter with the legendary Danna with no small amount of discomfort. "And you quacks thought it'd be smart to play 'operation' with it?"

"Yes," Shizune agreed, noticing the discomfort on his face with a flinch "his cells have remained frozen in a cryo-chamber. His genomic information is a priceless treasure to mankind."

"Priceless to the military perhaps." Fox countered with a snort, cutting off Shizune's explanation on how'd they'd recovered his DNA "You people are amazing," he muttered sarcastically, shaking his head "First you go and bring the old man's corpse back from God knows where, harvest whatever you want out of it like it's some sort of genetic cookie jar." He glared at Shizune "And now you're telling me you intend to transplant those genes into normal soldiers? Wasn't ONE Danna bad enough?"

"Fox," Col. Yamanaka cut into the tirade swiftly "you of all people must understand the reason we can't give them his body. It's potentially more dangerous than all the warheads on that island put together."

"I hear the terrorists are calling themselves 'The Sons of Danna.'" Shizune supplied helpfully, still a little put out by the man's anger.

"Sons of Danna huh?" Fox muttered, face twisting in wry amusement, before looking up at the Colonel sharply "What's the time limit?"

"They say they'll launch after 24-hours." Yamanaka supplied "So far they haven't specified a target."

"When did the countdown start?" Fox asked, wondering how much time exactly was wasted tracking him down "And just whom are you speaking for Colonel."

"Five hours ago." Col. Yamanaka admitted "And naturally, I'm here representing the Konoha government."

"So who's in the supervisory control of this operation?" Fox asked, wondering how far the trail went back anbd who he'd have to hunt down if they tried to cockblock him.

"The Daimyo himself." The Colonel replied frankly, earning an impressed look from Fox. If the big man himself was getting involved things had to be serious.

"Which means he must be meeting up with his aides in the map room right about now." Fox noted.

"Actually, they're still video-conferencing with one another." The colonel countered with a shrug, earning an annoyed look from Fox.

"If that's a real warhead like you said then shouldn't they be issuing a damned COG?" the former agent demanded "What the hell are they smoking?"

"Calm Down, the Secretary of Defense has operational control, and is fully aware of the situation." Col. Yamanaka explained, though he was looking a little irked himself "After you infiltrate, if you determine they posses MC launch capabilities, a COG will be issued."

"Well if they aren't relocating to the shelter under the monument I suppose there isn't that much reason to worry yet." Fox allotted with a grunt "How well armed are these terrorists? How's there battle experience?"

"Heavily armed I'm afraid." The colonel admitted apologetically "And the six members of ANBU-HOUND in charge are all hardened veterans. They're tough enough to eat nails and ask for seconds."

"Wouldn't expect anything less from ANBU-HOUND." Fox noted with a dim sense of pride, leaning his elbows on his legs. "Tell me about these Next-Gen Special Forces."

"They started out as an Anti-Terrorist special-ops unit made up from members of former biochem units, technical escort units and the MCEST." Yamanaka explained, firing up another slide "Their purpose was to respond to threats involving next generation weapons of mass destruction including CBC weaponry."

"Until THEY were added that is." Shizune noted grimly, earning a look from Fox as another slide was pulled up.

"Looks like a pretty international group." Fox noted offhandedly, running his eyes over the hardened visages with a calculating stare "Mercenaries?"

"Worse." The Colonel replied "Most of them were from a merc agency I think you're familiar with." He pulled up another slide, nodding as Fox flinched "They're all former members of Big Boss' private guard, and after he went down, the military just bought out all their contracts."

--

"Outer Heaven." Fox muttered grimly, visions of his first taste of actually combat flashing behind his eyes. He'd only been a green recruit to ANBU-HOUND at the time, just another soldier, nothing outwardly remarkable. The fact he was the only member of the unit available to infiltrate the complex had struck him as odd even then, but he'd been young, and didn't think to question the word of the living legend that was Big Boss.

"I thought using genetically enhanced soldiers was against international law." He asked, trying to ward off the memories of the hell that had followed his blind trust.

"Well...yes," Shizune hazarded, shrugging her shoulders "but those are just declarations, not actual treaties."

"The interesting thing." Col Yamanaka noted "Is that nearly every member of the unit conspired in this attack."

"All of them?" Fox repeated, slightly alarmed at the notion "How could an entire unit be subverted to rebellion?"

"They're calling it a revolution." Shizune offered, nodding towards the colonel to continue.

"Since they all went through the same gene therapy," Yamanaka supplied "they probably felt closer than brothers. They see the unit as their only family."

"The Sons of Danna." Fox muttered derisively, snorting to the side "But if they were regular army, they must've been interviewed regularly by counselors."

"According to their files they all got straight A's on their psychological tests." Col. Yamanaka supplied "They all seemed like upstanding patriotic soldiers."

"And yet they all took part in the uprising?" Fox persisted, still unable to accept something so ludicrous.

"Well, no." the colonel admitted, "Some people didn't show up on the day of the exercise. That's why there was a re-supply of troops."

"Was there any sign recently that something might be wrong?" Fox asked, trying to get as much Intel as possible.

"There was a report about a month ago." Yamanaka admitted "It said they were acting strangely."

"Apparently they consulted classified information concerning the soldier genes and carried out their own gene therapy experiments." Shizune supplied helpfully.

"They can do that without you?" Fox asked, looking the scientist over carefully, earning an embarrassed flush from the woman.

"Well, our gene therapy process is almost completely automated." Shizune admitted with a shrug "Besides, they're all geniuses with IQ's well over 180."

"Even the existence of this genome army is a national secret of the highest order." Yamanaka informed the agent "We'd been hoping to investigate this quietly, and deal with it behind closed doors."

--

Fox looked up as the Colonel pointed at the slide machine, pulling up another picture, this time a group of six people, five men and a woman, all in impressive looking trench coats save for the big guy at the back with an orange mane.

"High-tech Special forces unit ANBU-HOUND." Yamanaka introduced "Your former unit, and one I was a commander of." He nodded solemnly "An elite group combining firepower and expertise; they're every bit as good as when I was commanding them."

"So they're still around," Fox noted grimly, knowing before he'd retired that the unit had been limited to a skeleton crew, with no active agents. It seemed Yamanaka had rectified that mistake before retiring himself.

"There are six members of ANBU-HOUND involved in the attack." Yamanaka revealed, pointing at the slide with a laser pointer "Psycho Sasori, with his powerful psychic abilities;" he moved the dot to the lone female "Sniper Hebi, the beautiful and deadly sharpshooter;" the pointer moved to a man near the back with his face hidden "Decoy Tako, master of disguise;" the big guy was up next "Vulcan Oni, giant and Shaman;" and finally, a bespectacled man with graying silver hair "And Revolver Kabuto, specialist in interrogation and a formidable gunfighter."

"Looks like a pretty interesting bunch." Fox noted with a sarcastic smirk "Too bad we'll be meeting up under these circumstances."

"And finally," Col. Yamanaka finished, pointing at the man at the forefront, face blurred by the quality of the slide "in charge of them all, ANBU-HOUND's squad leader, Liquid Fox."

"Liquid Fox?!" Fox repeated, sitting ramrod straight as he turned to regard the colonel sharply. The odds of two agents receiving the same designation were one in a million. For someone else to be awarded the title of fox…something only HE had been granted…it would appear that things were about to get interesting.

"Liquid fox." The Colonel repeated, looking at the younger man carefully "The man with the same codename as you."

"I thought by the time I left ANBU-HOUND was no longer using codenames." Fox asked, refusing to fall for the Colonel's bait so easily.

"I don't know his real name if that's what you're wondering." Col. Yamanaka replied, shooting the man's hope down in flames "That information is so highly classified even I can't look at it." he reached into his pocket and pulled out a photo, handing it to Fox and nodding as the younger man's eyes widened "Pretty shocking huh? His hair colour is different, but other than that, you two are exact duplicates."

"…I have a twin…?" Fox managed to get out, looking up from the photo with a look of absolute disbelief on his face. The blue eyed, red-haired clone glared up at him from the flimsy photo, almost accusingly.

"I don't know the details," Yamanaka admitted "but that appears to be the case. It's the real reason we need you for this mission."

"You're the only one that can beat him." Shizune insisted "Now that I've met you I can know that for sure." She nodded at the blonde "You have something he doesn't, I can see it in your eyes."

'Why doesn't that thought reassure me any?' Fox muttered, looking down at his redheaded doppelganger with a growing sense of trepidation, before tossing the photo at Yamanaka "Colonel, I don't work for you people anymore, let me go back to wave."

"Sorry Fox," Col. Yamanaka offered "But this ship is headed straight for Yuki no kuni territory, there's no room for debate."

"I told you," Fox growled dangerously "Even if I owe YOU something, I don't owe anything to the army OR Konoha!"

"You will accept this assignment!" the colonel snapped, face snapping from genial to professional in an instant.

"And why would I be stupid enough to do that?" Fox snorted, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall "I'm no patriot, I could care less if the place burns to the ground."

"Fox," the colonel began warningly "there's enough dirt in your file from your days as an agent to keep you locked away until you're an old man…possibly till you die."

"Oh I see," Fox noted, a knowing look coming to his eyes as he regarded the Colonel with a coldly "Blackmail…so that's your angle is it?"

"I prefer to think of it as helping you come to a decision easier." Yamanaka admitted offhandedly "But anyways, I know you better than that. You'd take this assignment even without the threat."

"What makes you say that?" Fox asked, leaning against the wall and regarding the older man with interest in those cold blue eyes.

"Because you're a natural born soldier." Yamanaka revealed "You're not the 'grow old gracefully' type, same as all of us who've seen real action, the only place you feel truly alive is on the battlefield." He nodded solemnly as he began to pace about "I'm a soldier too, I know those feelings of powerlessness and frustration that you feel everyday." He waved a hand at the wall "You've tried to play the Boy Scout in wave, but you can't be a carpenter forever." He turned to face the younger man calmly "Come back to us Fox, be a soldier again. Let us give you a purpose."

--

Fox eyed his former commander carefully, as if evaluating him for several seconds, before crossing his arms. "Colonel…" he noted, looking the older man in the eye "You're retired. So why the hell are you involved in all of this."

"Because no-one knows the ANBU-HOUND as well as I do." The colonel replied promptly, noting the skeptical look on the agents face "That, and I've been soldering for a long time, I don't know anything else." He chuckled "I guess, even though I'm getting old, I still love to be in the field."

"Colonel…" Fox began, raising an eyebrow mockingly "You're a lousy liar. Tell me the truth or I'm walking."

Yamanaka twitched, then sagged, looking oddly relieved as he pulled up a chair and sat, leaning on the back of it to look Fox in the eye. "Sorry Fox…I'll be frank." He agreed, holding the younger man's gaze "A person very dear to me is being held hostage…my daughter, Ino."

"What was your daughter doing there?" Fox wondered, looking over the colonel's exhausted frame carefully. Apparently the man was quite relieved to get this off his chest.

"Several soldiers were reported missing the day of the revolt." Col Yamanaka reminded him, holding out a photo "My daughter was one of those called in as an emergency replacement."

Fox accepted the photo; looking over saluting blonde in the picture with a nod "She looks like you." He noted, actually impressed by what he could see "But a personal motive? That isn't very professional Colonel."

"I'm retired now," Yamanaka reminded him "I'm just an old man now...and your friend."

"Since when were we friends?" Fox snorted half-heartedly, regarding the older man with a raised eyebrow.

"I've thought of us as friends since the fall of Zanzibar." The colonel admitted with a casual shrug, a sign he hadn't taken offence.

"With my personality, I don't HAVE too many friends." Fox reminded the man, "I tend to hold people at arms length these days too."

"That's what I trust about you." Col. Yamanaka admitted, "That's what makes you human." He looked in the younger man's eyes, professionalism gone and replaced with the desperate eyes of a father "Please Fox…Save my little girl."

--

The two regarded each other, some silent conversation passing between the retired agent and his former commander that the other onlookers couldn't comprehend.

Col. Yamanaka had taken over as commander of ANBU-Hound shortly after the Outer Heaven incident, and had done a stellar job of keeping the ragtag group together; something no one else had managed when it was revealed that Big Boss, founder of the organization, had been the mastermind behind the incident. He personally oversaw the Zanzibar mission, which ironically, had been Solid Fox's last mission as an agent before dropping off the radar, and had wordlessly given the agent his blessings as he vanished without a trace.

"All right." The former agent agreed at length, looking the older man in the eyes "I'll do it, but on two conditions."

"Name them." Col. Yamanaka replied, looking at the younger man with relief and gratitude behind his professional mask.

"One: No more secrets between us." Fox demanded, "I want complete disclosure at all times. And two: I'll only take orders directly from you Colonel. No cut-offs involved, okay?"

"Agreed," Yamanaka replied with a relieved smile "That's why I was called…but one thing Fox." He smiled at the agent "I'm not a colonel anymore…just a retired old warhorse."

"I understand…Colonel." Fox replied, a small smile gracing his features, before nodding towards Shizune "she part of the op too?"

"She was in charge of ANBU-HOUND's gene therapy." Col Yamanaka explained with a nod "She knows more about those guys than anyone else."

"So what, you've seen them naked?" Fox asked, looking the brunette over carefully, a slight smirk on his face "Guess I've something else in common with 'em."

"Make no mistake," Shizune noted with a sniff, as she held up a clipboard "I'm not a nurse, I'm a scientist."

"By the way," Fox asked her, pointing at the used needle nearby "What was that shot for earlier?"

"A combination of nano-machines and an anti-freezing peptide," the medic explained "so that your blood and other bodily fluids don't freeze, even in at sub-arctic temperatures."

"Nano-machines?" Fox repeated, looking at his arm in confusion, wondering what the hell they were for, not exactly trusting of the latest advances in technology.

"And not just the one type." Shizune elaborated "There are different types that will replenish the supply of adrenaline, nutrition and sugar in your bloodstream."

"Least I won't have to worry about food." Fox alloted, recalling numerous missions in the past where he'd practically starved to death.

"I also put some Neo-tropics in there," Shizune added, "They're a type of drug which will improve your mental functioning." She nodded as she checked off her fingers "I also put some Benzedrine in there, it's a stimulant that'll keep you alert and responsive for twelve straight hours."

"Hell of a cocktail." Fox noted, visibly impressed as he looked the doctor over with a smirk "Anything else? No side effects I hope? Never was one for stimulants."

"That's it, and no." Shizune assured him "Though those nano-machines should also keep your Codec's battery fully charged for the duration of the mission."

"Guess I know who to call next time I go on a diet." Fox noted with a grin as the doctor winked at him "By the way, I need to borrow your scissors."

Shizune blinked, but handed the tools over without a fuss "What are you going to do?" she asked, looking away as the still nude blonde stood up and walked over to a mirror.

"Don't worry," Fox assured her, grabbing his mane of blonde hair in one hand "Just gonna clean myself up a little."

Shizune blinked as he cut away the majority of his blonde locks, before sighing and stepping forwards, taking the scissors off him and making him sit down. "You're just tearing off clumps of it." she muttered "Here, let me do it."

Fox raised an eyebrow but didn't complain, letting her cut away at his hair until he looked semi decent again. "Thanks." He offered "I didn't feel like being mistaken for the leader of the terrorists."

Shizune said nothing, merely brushing off the last traces of hair from his shoulders and patting him on the shoulder, leaving him to get dressed as they neared the sub that was to take them the rest of the way.

'Danna...' Fox muttered, staring at his face in the mirror with a scowl, blue eyes narrowed as he prepped himself for what was to come 'even from the grave you just won't let me be.'

--

Well, that's that.

Expect other chapters up soon. This Fic basically follows the Metal Gear plotline but with a few changes.

Anyone that can surprise me with casting suggestions gets a cookie.

That said, please be gentle when reviewing, and please, give an honest opinion.

Stay classy Reviewers, and thanks for stopping by.

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	2. Chapter 2

I appreciate all the reviews, also, I pretty much managed to get most of the cast together.

Sadly, I'll just leave you in the dark as to who's playing who for now.

Naruto: Damn...I know I should be impressed, but playing two roles is pretty damn hard.

Kyugan: Live with it, you're young, you got stamina and chakra to spare...By the way, they're laucnhing soon.

Naruto !

* * *

File 2. Venting and vents.

Two hours later…Shadow Moses Island.

A tall, commanding figure eyed the dock before him with cold blue eyes, his red hair running down his shoulders like a fiery mane. He wore green combat pants but was bare-chested under his trench coat, dog tags resting on a chiseled chest as he turned his cold stare towards one of the two grunts he'd placed on guard duty. "Stay alert!" he ordered the man, an almost imperceptible scowl on his face as he eyed the shadowy water beyond the dock "He'll be through here…I know it." he stepped back onto the elevator and hit the switch "I'm going to swat down some bothersome flies."

The guard saluted and turned his back, going back to his patrol as the elevator slowly returned to the surface. The redhead stood with hands clasped behind his back, lips twitching in a diabolical smirk as he caught sight of a moving shadow in the water below.

'Soon brother…' he promised, an almost palpable look of hunger on his face, the tip of a canine peeking out from under his lip as he leered 'we'll settle things very soon.'

As the elevator made it's way up the guards resumed their patrol patterns, keeping a wary eye out for any possible threats, their footfalls echoing slightly in the closed off dock.

Unbeknownst to them, another figure soon appeared on the scene, rising quietly from the freezing water like some ominous spirit, protected from the sub-zero temperature by the suit he was wearing. He climbed onto the dock, ducking behind a large circuit breaker to pull off his diving gear, leaving them where no-one would see them before reaching for his left ear, tapping the device hanging from it and grunting as a green tinged screen appeared before his eyes.

--140.85--

Fox: This is Fox, Colonel, can you here me?

Yamanaka: Loud and clear Fox. What's the situation?

Fox: Looks like the elevator in the back is the only way up.

Yamanaka: (Grim) Just as I expected. You'll have to take the elevator to the surface, but make sure that nobody sees you. If you need to contact me by Codec, the frequency is 140.85. When we need to contact you, the codec will beep. (Dial tone goes off) it directly stimulates the small bones of your ear, no one but you will be able to hear it.

Fox: (Smirking) Handy little gizmo, wonder if it gets cable. (Turns serious) Anyways, see ya topside.

--End Transmission--

Cutting off the signal, Fox looked around the corner of the machine he was crouched behind, making careful note of the guards' positions before crawling under the machine and sneaking quietly along the shadowed path at the end of the crates, ducking out of sight if one got to close or happened to change the patrol slightly. He winced, realising with a hint of professional approval that their pattern was a bit too tight for him to simply wait till they were far away. That, and the acoustics of the closed off dock made every step a potential signal.

Deciding to use it to his advantage, he rapped his knuckles sharply against one of the crates, slinking into the shadows as the guards came to investigate, slipping past them carefully, nearly cursing as he almost slipped on a frozen puddle nearby.

Just as he approached the elevator however, the warning sirens that heralded it's descent and ascension sounded, drawing a muted curse from the agent as he dove behind a smaller stack of crates, just in time to avoid being detected by the guard on the elevator as the lift came to a halt. The new arrival merely yawned as the lift came to a stop, before walking out at a sedate pace, nodding to his colleagues, who'd come to investigate the elevator's arrival, before taking up a sedate patrol down the path between the crates, apparently without a care in the world.

Seizing his chance, Fox waited until he was CERTAIN the guards were looking the other way, before slipping towards the elevator and ducking inside just as the gates closed. The lift must have either been pre-programmed to return to the surface or there was another guard or two up there calling it back up, because none of the patrolling guards commented on the lift's departure.

Praying fervently that it was the former, Fox proceeded to pull off the remains of the scuba gear that had gotten him to the island with a grunt, dropping the soaked, skin-tight headgear and oxygen provider to the floor before standing up, turning to look at the dock as the elevator continued upwards, his spiky blonde hair waving in the breeze behind his bandanna, his blue eyes grim and determined.

Tactical Espionage Action

**Metal Gear Solid**

The Twin Foxes

Fox blinked as the elevator came to a stop, the blizzard almost blinding the agent were it not for his training. The one good thing about it was that at least his hunch had been right, the only thing waiting for him at the top of the chute was the rest of the mission…joy…

It wasn't difficult to catch sight of the facility, despite the visibility, the place was fairly well lit, and the weather wasn't too bad, for Yuki no kuni in winter anyways. Making his made his way to some storage crates nearby, Fox crouched down to lower the chance of being spotted, before reaching for his codec and tapping the Colonel's frequency.

--140.85--

Fox: It's Fox. I'm in front of the disposal facility.

Yamanaka: (Impressed) Excellent, Snake. Age hasn't slowed you down one bit.

Shizune: How's that Sneaking Suit working out?

Fox: I'm nice and dry, but it is a little hard to move. S'like I've got a permanent wedgie riding up my-

Shizune: (flushing) Bear with it. It's designed to prevent hypothermia; this is Yuki no kuni after all.

Fox: (smirking) Take it easy, I'm grateful. If it weren't for your suit and your shot I would have turned into a popsicle out there. NOT a good way to start a mission.

Shizune: (patiently) An anti-freezing peptide Fox. All of the Genome soldiers in this exercise are using it.

Fox: Now that's a relief. I was beginning to feel like a guinea pig for a moment there. (Frowns) By the way, how's the diversionary operation going?

Yamanaka: Two F-16s just took off from Wave and are headed your way. The terrorist's radar should have picked them up by now.

--Break in transmission--

Fox looks up at the sky for confirmation; only to blink as the sound of a helicopter firing up its propellers sounded in front of him. Peering cautiously around the crates, he blinked at the sight of a massive armored helicopter as it lifts off into the sky.

--140.85--

Fox: A Hind-D? Colonel, what's a Suna Gunship doing out here?

Campbell : I have no idea...but it looks like our little diversion got their attention. (Grimaces as the chopper takes off after the jets) Now's your best chance to slip in unnoticed. Remember, there are only 18 hours left until their deadline. You've got to hurry.

? : Wow...you must be several kinds of crazy to fly a Hind in this kind of weather! Definitely ANBU-HOUND.

Fox: Who's that?

Yamanaka: (Chuckling) Oh sorry, I haven't introduced you two yet. This is Ten-Ten, she was assigned to us as our visual and data processing specialist. She designed your codec, as well as your Soliton radar system. Contact her if you have any questions about either of them.

Screen changes to Ten-Ten, who winks at him over the Codec's video function cutely.

Ten-Ten: Nice to meet you Fox. It's an honour to speak to a living legend like yourself.

Fox: …

Ten-Ten: What's wrong?

Fox: Nothing...I just didn't expect a world-class designer of military technology to be so...hot.

Ten-Ten: You're just flattering me...

Fox: No, I'm serious. Hell, and here I was thinking I was gonna be bored for the next 18 hours.

Ten-Ten: (Chuckles) Flirt. I can't believe I'm being hit on by the famous Solid Fox. (raises an eyebrow) But I'm surprised; you're very frank for a trained killer.

Fox: Looks like we both have a lot to learn about each other.

Ten-Ten: Yeah, I'm looking forward to meeting the man behind the legend (Smiles suggestively) but first; let me explain about your Soliton radar system.

--Break in transmission--

Fox blinks as a map enters his field of vision, not hindering him oddly, but providing him a bird's eye blueprint of the facility. He was visibly impressed, but was damned if he knew how they managed to pull it off without giving him a tumor.

--140.85--

Ten-Ten: The bright dot in the middle is you Snake. The red dots are your enemies and the blue cone shape represents their field of vision.

Shizune: Be careful Snake. The Genome soldiers have highly developed senses of hearing and vision due to their gene therapy. Make sure you don't let them see you.

Yamanaka: First I want you to infiltrate the disposal site and look for the DARPA Chief.

Shizune: The DARPA Chief was injected with the same GPS transmitting nano-machines as you.

Ten-Ten : He should appear on your radar as a green dot.

Yamanaka: Get whatever information you can from him about the terrorists. (Frowns) If he's alive that is...

Ten-Ten : (looking concerned) Snake, your radar isn't affected by the weather, but if you're discovered by an enemy you won't be able to use it.

Yamanaka: Yes, it gets jammed easily I'm afraid.

Ten-Ten: (Apologetic) It's all made from currently existing technology. You won't be able to use it in an area with strong harmonic resonance. So be careful.

Yamanaka: We'll be monitoring your movements by radar, so contact us by Codec anytime you want.

Snake: Got it (Grins at Ten-Ten) I'll call if I'm feeling lonely.

Shizune: (Reprovingly) Seriously Snake, we're here to back you up, so call if you need some information or advice.

Ten-Ten: I'm also in charge of your mission data. Contact me if you want me to record your current status. My frequency is 140.96. (She smirks) though if you feel like having a chat that's fine too, so don't forget it.

Yamanaka: Remember, except for your binoculars you're naked. You need to arm yourself with whatever weapons you can find.

Fox: (Growls in annoyance) Yeah-yeah, first I'm strip searched by Shizune Sensei here, and then all my weapons are taken away. I feel naked without a gun at my hip.

Shizune: (Teasingly) Well, if you make it back in one piece, maybe I'll let you do a strip search on me.

Fox: (Raises and eyebrow) I'll hold you to that doctor. (Smirks) By the way, sorry to disappoint you but I did manage to smuggle out my smokes.

Shizune: (Frowning) How'd you manage that?

Fox: In my stomach. (Pats his chest) Thanks to the shot you gave me that suppressed my stomach acids.

Ten-Ten: Cigarettes? (Looks confused) How are those going to help you?

Fox: (Smirks at her coyly) You never know.

Yamanaka: (Rolls his eyes and sighs good naturedly) If you want to get in, there's always the front door. It's the fastest way, but there's too much risk of being spotted by the enemy.

Fox: Not like I was planning to knock on the door and ask them to let me in. (Pulls out binoculars and zooms in on sentries) One sentry on the left and one on the right. They're armed with "five-five-sixers" and pineapples...

--Break in transmission--

Fox ducked out of view sharply as the sentry on the right neared his position, sneaking back around the crate towards the elevator until the coast was clear. Checking the radar to determine the guards' positions, he peered to the left with his binoculars, catching sight of an open vent near the front door, with a security camera and patrolling guard nearby.

--140.85--

Yamanaka: What about the air duct near the door? There should be another duct on the second floor according to your map.

Fox: I can't see it from here, (Growls) damn railings in the way.

Yamanaka: I'll let you decide the best COA. (Pauses) I'm counting on you Snake.

Fox: Don't you worry; I'll get her out of here Colonel. (Smirks) That's a promise.

Yamanaka: (Blinks, then smiles genially.) That's reassuring…I know what you're like with promises.

--End Transmission--

Getting to his feet, Fox snuck around the side of the crates, keeping an eye on the positions of the sentries as he approached the helipad. He crouched, waiting for the searchlights to move before dashing to the side and ducking out of sight, just as a sentry turned around. He crawled out, exhaling softly as he watched the man turn the other way, before getting to his feet and dashing silently towards another stack of crates nearby, espying a transport truck with a single guard patrolling it near the helipad.

'Looks like a supply truck.' He noted, taking in the stacks of boxes and smaller crates stored in the back. 'Chances are good there may be something I can use in there.'

Waiting for the sentries to turn away, he made his way to the truck, climbing in and ducking behind a box even as the sentry turned around in alarm, having caught his footsteps. 'Shit…Shizune wasn't kidding, they do have sharp hearing.' he muttered, holding his breath until the guard decided he must've been hearing things and went back to his patrol. Taking a low breath to steady himself Fox ran his eyes over the cargo, a grin stretching across his face as he espied the familiar grip of a firearm in the shadow of the truck, pulling it towards him with a sense of achievement.

'Hm…SOCOM huh?' he noted, ejecting the magazine with a nod 'Twelve rounds…not too bad all things considered.'

A quick search turned up a hip holster but no extra magazines for the handgun. Fastening the holster to his leg in a way that wouldn't impede his movement, the agent holstered the pistol and waited for the guard to clear the way, sneaking past him towards a crate on the right side, only to bite off a curse as he almost ran into another guard taking a piss.

"Hmm?" the man wondered, turning his head to the side, only to choke as a Fox chopped him in the throat, dragging him out of view and putting him in a chokehold until he slowly passed out, continuing to relieve himself the entire time.

'Too close.' Fox muttered, frisking the man and coming up with a few Chaff grenades and two clips for the SOCOM. He considered taking along the man's FAMAS semi-automatic, only to grimace as he realised it had landed in a steaming yellow puddle. 'No way in hell am I using that…' he swore, glaring venomously at the semi-naked recumbent guard 'I hope it freezes it off.'

After propping the guard up in a way that made it appear he was alert, Fox crawled towards the steps leading to the upper vent, pausing if one of the other sentries got too close, sneaking past a security camera as he made his way up the steps, only to find another Guard patrolling right in front of the shaft.

'Persistent little bastards aren't you.' He noted grimly 'You're Danna's crew without a doubt.' He laid low on the steps, watched the guard look around, ready to leap out an silence him if he was spotted, only for the man to continue his patrol towards the other side, allowing Fox to sneak up the steps. Keeping low to avoid being seen from below, Fox shadowed the guard, ducking behind pillars and into alcoves as he steadily moved towards the, gloriously open, vent shaft, crawling into it and out of sight even as the man spun round warily.

"Huh? What was that noise?" he heard the man utter, rolling his eyes as the great lout clumped past "Hm…must be hearing things."

'Yeah…like the sound of your pay check going up in smoke.' Fox muttered snidely, making his way deeper into the ventilation shaft, and the mission.

--

Several minutes later, and a rather amusing run-in with some easily terrified rodents, and Fox had to fight the urge to jump as the still unfamiliar tone of the Codec beeped in his ear. Grumbling to himself about getting a grip, he tapped the receiver, blinking as a familiar face, hair done up in a topknot and a scar across the nose, partially hidden by sunglasses.

--141.80--

Iruka: This is Umino Iruka. (smiles) It's been a long time Fox.

Fox: (Surprised) Sensei? What are you doing here?

Iruka: I quit being a drill instructor, so I moved out here for some peace and quiet. I'm in retirement just like you. Once in a while I still help train the Yuki Scouts.

Fox: (Smirking) Passing on the skills to a new generation, huh?

Iruka: Yamanaka told me about the situation here. (Smiles) I thought I might be of some use.

Fox: There's no one I'd rather have in a foxhole than you (Smirks at the man) Pardon the pun.

Iruka: (Chuckles) Well, I know lots about survival in a harsh environment. I've lived out here longer than you, so call me if you have any questions about the flora or fauna out here. My frequency is 141.80.

Fox: We have to get together after this is over. (Smirks) I'll treat you to Ramen.

Iruka: (Nods) It's a date, see you then.

--End Transmission--

'Wonder what sensei's been up to these days.' Fox wondered, recalling the genial drill instructor from his rookie days with fondness. The man had been strict, straight as a ruler and unabashedly disciplined. That said, off-duty there was no one better to have with you at the bar, and he somehow managed to make a friend out of everyone, especially the newly recruited Solid Fox.

Putting those thoughts out of his mind for the moment, Fox turned his attention towards sneaking through the duct, taking note of the two tanks parked in the garage below with some trepidation, noting that one seemed to be undergoing some form of maintenance. He paused as voices from below caught his attention, peering through a grille as he listened in on the conversation between two guards below.

"I moved the DARPA Chief to the cell in the 1st floor basement." One of the genome soldiers noted, looking oddly alert, holding his FAMAS tightly.

"What about the vent shaft cleaning?" the other asked, nodding towards the ducts without looking up, Fox ducking out of sight lest he was shot.

"They just opened the vent covers." the first replied, sounding bored as he shrugged "They're about to start spraying for rats."

'1st floor basement ventilation shaft...' Fox memorized, making a note to clear the hell out of the ducts before the fumigation began.

"Shut those covers as soon as they're done spraying." The first soldier ordered, strengthening Fox's resolve to vacate the ducts "Also, keep your eye on that woman in the cell. Don't get careless now."

'Woman in the cell?' Fox repeated, raising an eyebrow with interest 'That must by the Colonel's daughter. But why the added security?'

"Did something happen?" the second soldier asked, looking at his comrade a little nervously, tightening his grip on his weapon at his comrade's grim nod.

"There's an intruder." The first admitted, Fox freezing in the vent in case he was discovered "He's already done three people." Fox blinked, knowing that so far he'd only incapacitated a single guard. "They say he's using stealth too."

'Stealth?' fox repeated in confusion 'Is that code for something? And there's an intruder running around this oversized freezer besides me?'

Shrugging it off, he waited for the guards to return to their posts, before crawling over to an open vent and climbing down the maintenance ladder, ducking out of view of a camera by clinging to the wall to sneak under it, before making his way along the walkway as quietly as he could.

He grudgingly resisted the urge to spit over the railing, though considering how repetitive these jokers were, he doubted they'd even think to look up. For crying out loud, one of them was just circling the same tank repeatedly!

Another camera at the end of the walkway provided some difficulty, as it was in a more awkward position to sneak past, but a little bit of patience, and a lot of muted swearing later, and Fox was nestled under the hulking shell of a tank, watching the patrols go by as he timed their pattern carefully.

'Three…two…one…' he counted, waiting for the guards to cross one another on their rounds 'NOW!'

--

One of the guards yelped, spinning around whilst holding his abused ass cheek, glaring at his colleague "What the hell?!" he demanded "What'd you pinch my ass for!?"

"Huh?" the other guard blinked, looking at his colleague in confusion "What're you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb with me!" the first demanded "You just pinched me as you walked past! It freaking hurt!" he stamped his foot petulantly "Dammit! I know there's no women on this base but c'mon!"

"I did…wha?" the confused guard stammered, trying to simultaneously calm his colleague down and make sense of what he was saying. In the commotion, neither noticed the elevator doors sliding shut, shutting off the fox like grin of the instigator of the little argument from the world as he made his way to the basement.

--

'Yup…definitely the old Outer Heaven and Zanzibar gang.' Fox noted with a grin, tossing a few sharp pebbles he'd picked up outside in case he needed a distraction 'Nothing like a little strife in the workplace to take your mind off things.'

He hugged the side of the elevator as it came to a stop, drawing his SOCOM and trailing it down the hallway cautiously, only to find it deserted. 'Must've gotten here before the added security.' He deduced, keeping the weapon drawn as he moved to the nearest door, only to frown as he realized there was no handle 'The hell? What's that number '6' for? Security clearance?'

Shrugging it off for now, Fox patrolled the hallway, using the radar and his own sharp hearing to keep an eye out for enemy presences, only to reach another maintenance duct without any problems. 'Never look a gift horse in the mouth.' He muttered, holstering his weapon and climbing into the duct, making his way along slowly but steadily, keeping an eye out for the telltale signs of fumigation, only to gag as a foul stench burned the hairs of his nostrils.

Swearing silently, Fox looked down in disgust, only to see a guard crouching over a toilet, mumbling to himself. Fighting off the urge to put a bullet in the man's skull for violating his nostrils, he leant in as close as he dared to listen in.

"Mendokuse…this is the third damn cold I've gotten…" the guard snorted "Still, that woman in the cell's pretty tough…nice ass too." He grimaced as his stomach churned "Mendokuse…how long we gonna be here for? I've been sneezing and crapping my guts out for a week now."

He flushed the toilet, getting up and washing his hands before vacating the pungent bathroom, leaving behind a stench so palpable Fox wouldn't have doubted a single spark could blow the place to kingdom come.

Vacating that particular area of vent as swiftly as possible, Fox made his way along the duct, pausing over the next vent to take a look, only for his eyes to practically bulge out of his skull at the sight of the blonde woman below doing squats in her cell

'!'

--140.85--

Shizune: (Concerned) Fox, your heart rate just sped up for a few seconds! You okay?

Fox: Huba-Wha? Uh, yeah, fine (Looked around suspiciously) just…thought I heard something…in the vent.

Yamanaka: Probably spraying for pests…hurry up and get out of there as soon as you can.

Fox: Right…I'll get right on that. (Eyes trail downwards. He grins.) Oh yeah, definitely on top of things.

Shizune: Uh…Fox? (Looks confused) Is something…wrong?

Fox: Oh my god she's not wearing pants…wha? Oh right, never mind. How close am I to the DARPA chief?"

Ten-Ten: You're practically right on top of him.

Naruto: Rather be on top of THAT…I mean, Got it, I'll get right on her…I mean IT!

Ten-Ten: ?

--End transmission--

'That was close.' Fox muttered, shaking himself as he continued to look down the vent, committing ever moment of the scene to memory 'Damn she's flexible…and what an ass, she definitely didn't get THAT from the Colonel.'

Shaking himself, he took one last peek at the beauty doing stretches against the wall, before proceeding along the tunnel to the next vent, looking down to see an old man with spectacles sitting on the cot with his head in his hands. 'Bingo.' He muttered, wrenching the vent cover out of place, the noise drawing the old coot's attention.

"Who...who's that?!" the codger demanded, backing away as Fox dropped out of the vent, hands up in a sign of non-violence.

"Relax old man, I'm here to save you." The agent explained, giving the old man a quick once-over "You're the DARPA Chief, Homura, right?

"You're here to save me, huh?" the old man asked suspiciously, looking the young man over " What's your outfit?

"I'm the pawn they sent here to save your worthless butt." Fox replied with a snort, lowering his hands as he stepped forward.

"Really?" Homura noted, before sighing in relief "It's true...You don't look like one of them." He stepped forward desperately "In that case, hurry up and get me out of here."

"Slow down there gramps." Fox ordered, holding the man back "First I want some information about the terrorists. Do they really have the ability to launch an MCW?"

"What are you talking about?" Homura asked in confusion, looking alarmed at the very idea.

"The terrorists are threatening Konoha." Fox explained, "They say if they don't accede to their demands they'll launch a Mass Chakra Weapon."

"Dear lord…" Homura muttered, sinking onto his cot with his head in his hands "It's possible. They could launch an MCW."

--

In the next cell over, the blonde woman paused in her exercises and leant in, wondering who on earth the Chief was talking to. It didn't sound like one of the terrorists, and their guard was currently leaning against the door to her cell, half-asleep.

"How do they plan to launch?" the unfamiliar voice asked, "I thought this place was just for keeping the dismantled warheads. They shouldn't have access to a missile."

"What I'm about to tell you is classified information." Chief Homura stated "We were conducting exercises of a new type of experimental weapon…A weapon that will change the world." He paused "A weapon with the ability to launch a nuclear attack from any place on the face of the earth. An MC equipped, walking battle tank.

--

"Metal Gear!?" Fox exclaimed, eyes widening in alarm as he stared at the man in disbelief "It can't be!"

"You knew!?" Homura gaped, eyeing the younger man in alarm and suspicion "Metal Gear is one of the most secret black projects! How did you know that?"

"We've had a couple of run-ins in the past." Fox muttered, recalling the two prior incarnations of the bipedal monstrosity "So that's the reason you were here at this disposal site?"

"Why else would I come to a God-forsaken place like this." Homura asked, face screwed up as he shook his head in disgust.

"Not for the view that's for sure." Fox agreed, frowning at the chief the whole time "But I heard the Metal Gear project was scrapped."

"On the contrary," Homura corrected "it's grown into a huge joint project between ArmsTech and ourselves. We were going to use this exercise as raw data and then proceed to mass production." He scowled "If it hadn't been for the revolution…and now Bunta has fallen into the hands of terrorists."

"Bunta?" Fox repeated, wondering why the hell he suddenly had a craving for French cuisine.

"Metal Gear Bunta," Homura explained "the codename for the new Metal Gear prototype." He paced in the cell "They're probably already finished aiming the warhead they plan to use with Bunta."

"Oi, oi…" a lazy voice called out, the guard appearing in front of the door with an annoyed scowl "I don't mind if you talk to yourself old man, but keep it down…so damn troublesome."

Fox waited against the wall as Homura looked through the slot, beckoning him over as the guard returned to leaning against the far wall. "But I thought that all warheads were equipped with safety measures," he asked the chief "some kind of detonation code that you have to input."

"Oh, you mean PAL." Homura noted "There is a PAL. It's set up so that you need to input two different passwords in order to launch the device. Gato knows one and I know one."

"Gato?" Fox repeated, recalling the briefing with a frown "You mean the president of ArmsTech?

"That's right." Homura agreed, "Each of us has to input our password or there can be no launch." He paused, looking torn and ashamed "But... they found out my password."

"You talked?" Fox demanded, looking the old man over, noting the guilt in every line of his face.

"No...not that it mattered." Houmra muttered bitterly "Psycho Scorpion can read people's minds." he explained, pointing at his skull for emphasis "You can't resist!"

"Psycho Scorpion?" Fox repeated, wondering why that name sounded so damn familiar, only for Homura to turn round and look him in the eye.

"One of the members of ANBU-HOUND." The old man elaborated grimly, shivering at some unpleasant memory "He has psychic powers."

"...Ah shit..." Fox muttered, leaning against the wall with a grunt, shaking his head at the situation ina annoyance "So if they get Gato's password?"

"They'll be able to launch an MC anytime." Homura confirmed with a no, looking at the floor before perking up "But there IS a way to stop the launch."

"What?" Fox demanded, wondering why the hell the old man had taken so long to get to the damn point. 'Must be the guilt…' he alloted 'that or senility.'

--

"The card keys." Chief Homura explained on the other side of the wall "They were designed by ArmsTech, the system developers as an emergency override. Even without the passwords, you can just insert the card keys and engage the safety lock.

"And if I do that?" the unknown voice asked, the sound of someone stepping away from the wall echoing through to the other cell as he spoke up.

"Yes." Chief Homura agreed, his shaky tones filled with certainty for the first time since the conversation started "You can stop the launch."

"That card key...?" the woman wondered, recalling how President Gato had pulled her aside and handed her the object in question.

"So where are the keys?" the unknown voice asked, drawing her attention back to the wall.

"Gato should have them." Homura insisted "Listen. You need three card keys. There are three different slots to put them in. You need to insert a card into each one of them."

"Okay three card keys." The voice muttered confidently, pacing noises echoing throuhg the walls "Do you know where they might be keeping Gato?

"Somewhere in the 2nd floor basement." Homura replied after a moments thought "I heard the guard say they moved him to an area that has a lot of electronic jamming."

"Any other clues?" the first voice asked, footsteps sounding on the other side as he moved towards the chief.

"Yes... they cemented over the entrances but didn't have enough time to paint over them." The chief recalled "Why don't you look for the areas where the walls are a different cover?

--

As Fox was processing this latest tidbit of information, Homura stood up off the bed and pulled something out of his pocket. "Here, take this." The old man instructed, "It's my ID card. It'll open any level-1 security door." He handed it to Fox, who looked it over in confusion. He'd never been good with machines...hence why they entrusted the destruction of the last two incarnations of Metal Gear to him.

"It's called a PAN card." The old man explained "It works together with your body's own electrical field. It transmits data using the salts in your body as the transmission medium. As you approach the door's security devices they'll read the data stored in the card.

"And the doors will open automatically, gotcha." Fox noted with a grim smirk " OK. I'm gonna get you out of here gramps."

"Wait a minute." Homura called out, stalling the younger man "You…haven't heard of another way to disarm the PAL, have you? From your bosses or anyone?" he frowned as Fox shook his head "Are you sure you haven't heard anything?"

"I just said no." Fox replied, looking at the old man in annoyance as he moved for the door, only to pause as a hand was put on his arm.

"So, does the White House plan to give in to the terrorists' demands?" Homura asked, looking at the young man with an odd intensity in his eyes, beads of sweat on his face.

"Hell if I know." Fox replied, shaking the hand off with a dismissive grunt "It has nothing to do with my orders, they could start chucking shit at the terroists like the desk monkey's they are for all I care."

"But... what about-!" Homura began, only to jolt, clasping both hands to his chest as he doubled over, rearing back and starting to spasm. "Nnnnnnghhhhhh!"

"What the-? What's wrong?!" Fox demands, rushing to the man's side, only to back off as he thrashes around.

"W...Why?! Uuuuuughhhh!"

Fox backed away as the man staggered towards him, gasping for breath and clutching at his jacket desperately with twitching fingers. He was dimly aware of someone thumping on the wall and door of the cell next to them, but was more concerned with the old man having a fit right in front of him. A few seconds more though, and Homura slumped, falling to the floor with a last gasp and laying still.

Fox stared at the figure lying before him, pressing back against the wall so hard he almost slid up it, too shocked by what he'd just witnessed to even move.

--

And so things start to get hairy for Fox. Tune in next time for more Tactical espionage action.

Homura: What the hell, why'd you kill me off?

Kyugan: After the shit you Koharu and Danzo pulled with Naruto and the Uchiha clan?

Homura: H-how did you-?!

Kyugan: Fansites...oh and by the way (Whips out socom) '!'

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

And so the saga continues.

Naruto: Man that was freaky, what happened to that old guy?

Shikamaru: Dunno, mendokuse, I hate mysteries.

Ino: Naruto! you better not get any ideas just because you saw my panties!

Naruto: I can't help it if you have a nice ass!

Ino: I...I do? (Blushes) i...never noticed.

Shikamaru: Mendokuse...

* * *

File 3. Ghost's and Gimps.

Several seconds past as Fox stared down at the prone form of DARPA chief Homura on the floor; he couldn't quite get over what had just transpired, it had looked like the old man was having a seizure of some sort. Taking a deep breath, he squatted next to the man's form and reached down to his neck, feeling for a pulse. Nothing.

Frowning in thought, Fox reached up to his ear, and tapped in the colonel's codec number.

--140.85--

Fox: (Angrily) Shizune! What happened?!

Shizune: (Nervous) I... I don't know. It looked like a heart attack but...

Yamanaka: (Stricken) A heart attack? No…

Fox: (scowling) Colonel! Are you hiding something from me?!

Yamanaka: Absolutely not. Fox, you've got to understand. This op is security level Red. You need the highest security clearance to get access to the complete file.

Fox: (Looking annoyed) You seriously expect me to believe that you are in charge of this op, but you don't have access to the complete file!?

Yamanaka: (Placatingly) I told you. The Secretary of Defense is in operational control. I'm just here as your support.

Fox: (Scowling at the man.)...

Yamanaka: Fox, we don't have time to debate. Get out of there and find President Gato!

--End Transmission--

Fox growled as he cut off the connection, only to blink as the sound of a door opening, followed by several decidedly un-masculine squawks and the sound of a struggle before something heavy fell to the floor, the sound of zippers and buckles being undone and redone in short succession trailing afterwards.

Leaning against the wall, he listened as the sound of boots approached the door to the chief's cell, only to frown as it slid open to reveal an empty corridor. Not willing to put anything to chance, he proceeded cautiously, peering round the corner, only to gag as he was mooned by the naked posterior of a pineapple haired man pointed in his direction, freezing as the business end of a FAMAS rifle was pointed at his head.

"Don't move!" the assailant ordered, her voice muffled by the balaclava, but undeniably female. She looked into the cell and scowled "So you killed the Chief, You bastard!"

"Would you believe me if I told you he died of natural causes?" Fox tried, only to sigh as he heard her hands tighten around the grip "Worth a shot."

"Turn around!" the woman ordered coldly, only to nearly drop her weapon as she saw the blue-eyed face looking back at her "Liquid!?" she startled, only to relax slightly, eyes narrowing in confusion "No...You're not." She jumped as Fox tried to dodge past her, leveling the gun in his face again "Don't move!"

"What is this? Red light, Green light?" Fox demanded, running his eyes over the figure in annoyance, noting her trembling hands "I see, this the first time you've ever pointed a gun at a person?" he smirked as her eyes widened "Your hands are shaking…that's bad for aiming." He lashed out, grabbing the barrel of the FAMAS and aiming it at his chest, even as he pointed his own SOCOM at her head "Think you can shoot me before I shoot you? Well rookie?

"Watch it!" the woman shot back, her voice defiant despite the nervousness "I'm no rookie!!"

"Liar," Fox countered with a smirk "That nervous glance...that scared look in your eyes." He leaned closer to her masked face, eyes hard "They're rookie's eyes if I ever saw them. You've never shot a person, am I right?"

"You talk too much." The woman growled, though Fox noted there was a slight flush under the balaclava, whether it was from attraction, annoyance or the headgear was anyone's guess.

"Nasty habit I'll admit." Fox agreed "But one that keeps people occupied long enough for me to notice things," he smirked again "like the fact you haven't even taken the safety off, rookie."

"I told you I'm no rookie!" the woman snapped, flushing from what could only be embarrassment as she realized the safety was indeed still on.

"You're not one of them are you?" Fox noted with a calculating look, letting her correct the mistake as he kept the barrel pointed at him "You don't carry yourself like a genome grunt."

--

The woman was silent for a moment, before tilting her head towards the door to the hallway. "Open that door!" she ordered, "You've got a card don't you?"

"Why?" Fox asked coyly, feigning ignorance as he smirked at her. He was enjoying this game far too much to let it end so soon.

"Why do you think?!" the woman snapped exasperatedly "So we can get the hell out of here!"

No sooner had the words left her mouth did several armed guards burst into the room, rifles aimed at them. Fox's face set into a scowl as he trained his SOCOM on them coldly. "Looks like we'll be a little delayed." He muttered, only to noticed his conversation partner frozen at the sight of their attackers " What are you doing!?" he snapped at her "Don't think! Shoot!"

He opened fire, a single round tearing into the skull of the closest assailant, sending him tumbling back into a colleague, who fell with a bullet in his chest and another in his belly. The third attempted to open fire, only for the woman to beat him to it, tearing up his stomach with a burst of FAMAS fire as she let out a yell of desperation.

Fox frowned, looking at the corpses carefully, only to curse as two round objects, armed grenades, were hurled into the room. "Get down!" he ordered, shoving the girl into the Chief's cell just as the explosives went off. Whipping round swiftly he managed to cap one of the soldiers that came to investigate in the knees, sending him tumbling to the floor. Fox lunged forwards, grabbing the man as he fell and using him as a human shield as he fired at the others, taking them down while they hesitated with swift headshots, snapping his stricken captive's neck once the last grunt fell.

A burst of FAMAS fire sounded out and he spun round, only to see a soldier he'd missed slumping against the wall, riddled with bullets, the masked woman from before standing in the doorway that lead to the hallway. "We're even now." she stated confidently, holding her rifle steadily as she nodded at him "Thanks for the help."

She turned on her heel, running towards the elevator even as Fox stuck his head out into the hallway. He turned to look at her, blinking as he watched her ass wiggle as she ran in a rather tantalizing manner. "So firm…" he muttered, only to shake himself and curse, running into the hallway after her "Dammit Wait! Who are you?!" he called out, only to blink as everything went white.

--

"_You fool! You've killed him!!" a cultured voice snapped, staring at a still, smoking figure strapped to some bizarre device in a rage._

"_I'm sorry, Sir." Another, older sounding voice offered, standing to the man's right, long graying hair trailing down his back as he shook his head._

"_His mental shielding was very strong." A third man rasped, red hair visible from behind a gas mask "I could not dive into his mind."_

"_Now we'll never get that detonation code..." the first voice growled, clenching his fist as he glared at the figure on the device like it was his fault._

"_Boss," the third voice stated with a hint of amusement "I have a good idea."_

--

Fox blinked and found himself back in the hallway, just in time to lunge back through the doorway as the woman turned and opened fire right at him. "Crazy bitch!" he cursed readying his SOCOM just in case "You on your period or something?!

The woman either didn't hear or didn't deign to respond, ceasing fire and pumping her arm as the elevator doors closed. Fox grimaced, a sudden chill settling over him as the unmistakable sound of someone breathing filled the corridor, blinking as somebody appeared, floating in the air.

"Good girl..." the figure rasped appreciatively, his voice oddly familiar somehow "Just like that..."

He disappeared as quickly as he came, the unsettling feeling vanishing with him, leaving behind a VERY confused Solid Fox.

'Who WAS that masked Ass?' the blonde wondered dimly 'and that gimp in the bondage gear for that matter…'Shrugging, he reached for the codec, hoping maybe it was the result of Shizune's cocktail, in which case he'd have a reason to be seeing things.

--140.85--

Fox: Shizune, I just had some freak-ass hallucination. Please tell me it's the Nano-machines or the drugs you shot me with.

Shizune: (Concerned) No Fox, The Nano-machines are functioning properly. And the dosage of stimulants I gave you is nowhere near enough to trigger a hallucination.

Fox: Ah shit…so either I got high off the fumes in that bathroom…or there's some sort of undead bondage freak haunting this place.

Shizune: (Sweat dropping) I highly doubt either of those is plausible. It must have been psychometric interference coming from Psycho Sasori, ANBU-HOUND's psychic. (Holds up a finger for emphasis) Think of it as a mental feedback loop.

Fox: So that was Sasori? (Sweat drops) Where in the hell did they recruit a freak like that?

Ten-Ten: (teasingly) Probably the same place they hired you.

Fox: (Smirking) Hey! You see me running around in bondage gear? I'm a flirt, not a perv.

Ten-Ten: (Grins) I dunno…I kinda like the idea of you in leather…

Yamanaka: (annoyed) Can we get back on track here please? (Nods at Fox) Listen, get to the 2nd floor basement, and locate the ArmsTech president.

Ten-Ten: (serious, but with mischief in her eyes) Keep an eye out in areas with strong jamming. IT may be the right place, but your radar won't work there, so be careful.

--End Transmission--

Shrugging, Fox made his way over to the guards, frisking them for ammo, grunting in disgust as he realized their guns were empty, swiping a half-eaten field ration from one before walking over to the guard room, rifling through the drawers and coming up with some more clips for the SOCOM.

'Is everyone on this heap of rock retarded when it comes to semi-automatics?' he muttered, pocketing the clips and reloading his weapon, keeping the spent magazine just in case it came in handy. Sweeping the corridor in case more grunts arrived, he made his way to the elevator, grousing over the fact the door near it was level 6.

Flipping the switch, Fox clung to the wall of the lift as it descended, ready to put up a decent resistance should anyone be waiting for him, only to blink as it opened to reveal an empty hallway. 'What the hell?' he wondered, stepping out and sliding along one of the walls, noting a lack of camera's too 'Is the president really here? Shouldn't there be guards or something?'

Fox shivered, a bolt of lightning racing up his spine as he caught a barely audible click, leaping back even as the floor dropped out beneath him to reveal a trapdoor, the sound of running water echoing up from deep below. 'Right, can't patrol the corridors if you lose your own men.' he muttered, stepping around the trap and clinging to the wall, wincing as one of the storage doors opened, only to sigh in relief as he realized the sensor had read the card. Sidling in warily, he smirked at sight of a two Boxes of readied SOCOM rounds, as well as something that made this boring day seem SO much more interesting.

"Good old composition 4" the blonde sighed, picking up a bundle of the highly volatile explosive and grinning "You and I are going places." He blinked as the codec went off, reaching for his ear as Ten-Ten's face appeared before him.

--140.96--

Ten-Ten: (Smiling) Looks like you found some new toys Fox.

Fox: Yeah, but I'm gonna have ta leave some here; they'd just slow me down.

Ten-Ten: Not necessarily, you see those buckles on your Flak jacket?

Fox: What about them?

Ten-Ten: They're an experimental project of mine called the 'Storage Space System' or S3 for short. They generate a type of controlled distortion, meaning you can carry countless items in one pocket.

Fox: (Excited) So I could literally become a walking armory?

Ten-Ten: (shakes her head) Sorry, it's still experimental, so you'll only be able to store something that could be placed in the pocket, like rounds or explosives, or something you could otherwise carry, like rifles etc.

Fox: Damn. And here I was eyeing one of those tanks from before…(Frowns) How come I never heard of this earlier?

Yamanaka: (Embarrassed) Actually, this operation was the first test run of the S3. The reason you weren't informed earlier was because there are a lot of people that would like to get their hands on it, and we didn't want to risk information leaking out.

Fox: Tactical Advantage…makes sense (Looks at Ten-ten) So how long does it last?

Ten-Ten: Well, the system is charged by your body, thanks to the Nano-machines that also power your codec. Even if you take off the jacket, so long as it still detects a signal from your Nano-machines, the System will function.

Fox: Remind me to buy you dinner when I get back. You just made my day in more ways than one.

Ten-ten: (Winks) I'll hold you to that.

--End Transmission--

That heartening conversation out of the way, Fox stuffed one of his pockets with every single piece of C-4 he could find, smirking as he patted the pocket, noting it hadn't even bulged. 'Oh yeah,' he gloated 'This is loads better than lugging around a big-ass backpack.'

One of the main obstacles that had slowed him down on his other missions was not the procurement of equipment, but where to keep it after he got his hands on it. Backtracking to an armory took too much time, and a backpack gave him away to the enemy, not to mention weighing him down.

'This makes things all the better.' Fox applauded, stepping out with his SOCOM at the ready, looking out for traps as he ran his free hand over the walls. He paused, coming to a visible patch of wall that was cemented over, rather than smooth steel. 'Okay seriously, this is just retarded.' He muttered, holstering the SOCOM with an annoyed grunt 'If Danna ever saw how these ass-tards are acting in his name he'd come back from the dead to kill them.' He snorted reaching into his pocket for some C-4 'Still, I'd take a fight with a zombie Danna over these genome rejects any day.'

Pressing the explosive against the wall and backtracking to the storage room for safety, he flipped the switch, the charge detonating and taking a good chunk out of the wall with enough noise to rouse the dead. Naturally, not a single soldier came to investigate.

'Looks like I retired just in time.' Fox noted dryly, stepping through the hole with his SOCOM at the ready 'Gene-therapy has obviously got some SERIOUS negative side effects.' He blinked as his radar fizzed out, static blurring across the screen silently, confirming his position. 'Jamming…this is the place alright.' He noted, stepping into the hallway, only to blink at the lack of any door.

Moving along the corridor carefully, he fought down the urge to smirk at the discovery of yet another sealed entrance. Yet another controlled explosion and he found himself in yet another corridor, only this time someone had taken time to at least try and disguise the correct entrance.

'Two entrances…one hostage.' Fox muttered, looking straight ahead and to the right, holding his chin in thought as he grinned 'Lets see…what to do…'

--

"Are you sure we shouldn't check out that noise below?" one of the guards asked, looking around in concern as his comrade shook his head.

"Nah, we were told to steer clear of that area until that torture guy finished up." the other countered, shivering with discomfort "Besides, anything between me and what's going on in there is just fine."

They blinked as another explosion rocked the floor beneath them, solidifying their desire to stay the fuck away from the armory.

--

'Never did like multiple choice.' Fox noted, frowning as he stepped back into the hidden hallway, peeking into the nearest hole and smirking at the sight within 'Bingo.'

A small, mustachioed man with receding grey hair and glasses stood tied to a pillar, several wires leading to and from him to the supports around him. Fox entered the room, sweeping it over before walking up to the captive, frowning at the lack of response.

"Crap...am I too late?" he wondered, only to sigh as the man moaned in pain "That's a relief…hey old man, you're the ArmsTech president, Gato, right?" he holstered his SOCOM and reached for one of the wires "Don't worry, I'm here to save you."

"No!" Gato screamed, eyes wide with terror behind his cracked specs "Don't touch it!"

Fox blinked and stepped back, cursing as he espied a familiar light flashing in the corner of a pillar, taking in the mass of C4 charges even as he caught the telltale sound of a hammer being cocked. He moved, back flipping even as the shot was fired, the bullet ricocheting off the wall as he drew his SOCOM in mid-leap, aiming it in the direction of the shooter as he landed, crouched on one knee.

"Touch that wire and the C4 will blow up along with the old man." a voice cautioned, a figure stepping out from behind the pillar, twirling a revolver in one hand "So you're the one the Boss keeps talking about."

"And who're you supposed to be?" Fox demanded, looking over the longhaired man suspiciously "That was some impressive shooting."

"You're not to bad at dodging yourself." the gunman applauded, silver hair shining in the light, a trimmed moustache on his slightly wrinkled face "And to answer your question, Special Operations ANBU-HOUND: Revolver Kabuto." He twirled a revolver in his hand with a flourish "I've been waiting for you, Solid Fox. Let's see if the man can live up to the legend."

Fox growled and aimed his SOCOM at the older man, only for Kabuto to stroke his gun, almost lovingly. "This is the greatest handgun ever made;" the HOUND member explained "The Colt Single Action Army." Popping the spent shells out, he reloaded dramatically "Six bullets; more than enough to kill anything that moves." He smirked, holstering the gun with a flourish "Now I'll show you why they call me...Revolver."

"A shoot out huh?" Fox noted wryly, holstering his gun "All that's missing is the spaghetti western music."

"Cute." Kabuto noted with a cold smirk, whipping a hand to his gun "Now...Draw!"

--

Fox rolled out of the way, only to curse as two bullets bounced off the wall and dug into the floor right next to him. 'Reflect shot?' he noted wildly, rolling to his feet and firing off a shot at the gunslinger 'Never met someone that could do that but Danna!'

"You look startled" Kabuto taunted, running around the pillar so Fox's shots missed their mark "Don't tell me you never faced a proper gunman before?"

"Don't flatter yourself." Fox shot back snidely "You think you're a real Wild Bill huh? Hate to tell ya, but you remind me more of Custer."

"You don't say?" Kabuto shot back, sending another two bullets at the blonde that missed by a hair as they circled round the pillars "I seem to be the one getting shots off."

"Good thing this isn't the wild west." Fox shot back, holding up the detonator for the C4 with a grin. Kabuto blinked, only to curse as he noticed the small pack the blonde had placed near the wall, diving to the side just as it detonated and pulling up against the pillar.

"Pretty impressive." the gunslinger called out, actually sounding impressed as he reloaded "Just what I'd expect from the man with the same code as the boss." He snapped the chamber closed "It's been a long time since I've had such a good fight, but I'm just getting warmed up."

That said, he leapt out from behind cover, startling Fox with his speed as he aimed the revolver right at the blonde's face. Before he could even pull the trigger however, there was a sudden blur, and then a spray of red as his forearm fell to the floor, still holding the revolver.

"My hand!" Kabuto howled, holding the spraying stump, trying to staunch the flow of blood, even as the blur flitted amongst the wires attached to Gato up, slicing them down along with the ropes binding the President to the support pillar. The businessman fell to the ground with a terrified cry of pain, the C4 exploding all around him, throwing Kabuto against the hole in the wall, where he glared venomously at the odd distortion in the air before him.

"Stealth Camouflage," the crippled gunslinger noted with a scowl, even as a figure in a blue and orange cyber suit with silver helmet appeared, the red light gazing at him like a Cyclops' eye "Can't you even die right!?" he demanded, getting to his feet and scooping up his arm and weapon, glaring at Fox coldly "You were lucky, we'll meet again!" he promised, before dashing into the hallway and off to the left.

--

Fox cursed, hoping he could still catch up to the man and put a bullet between his eyes, only to whip round and aim the SOCOM at the ninja-like intruder instead. "Who are you?!" he demanded, glaring at the figure suspiciously "Identify yourself!"

"You've certainly grown…" the figure noted with an almost bored tone, his voice digitally altered by the helmet "But I'm sure you know by now…Shadows like us don't have names."

A whimper from the floor drew both men's attention, Gato looking up at the armored figure in terrified disbelief "That... that exoskeleton...!" he stammered, "Wha-what are you doing here?!"

The ninja ignored the businessman and regarded Fox calmly "You've grown," he repeated in that digitally bored tone of his, twirling his katana before him "Lets see if you retained your fangs from five years ago."

Before Fox could ask what the hell the freak was on about he was forced to leap behind the pillar to avoid a sword swipe, only to gape as it sliced right through the pillar, nearly taking his head off in the process. Rolling to the side he fired several rounds at the ninja, only for it to twirl the katana expertly, deflecting them off to the side like flies.

Rolling forwards, Fox attempted a leg sweep, flowing into a kick to the chin, only for the ninja to leap upwards, lessening the damage whilst slicing at the roof. Fox could only gape as a small section fell towards them, the ninja kicking out and sending it hurtling towards him, only for him to dodge at the last second.

"Well, you're certainly as spry as you were years ago." The ninja noted, eyeing the sole scrape on his exoskeleton from a shot Fox had gotten off as he dodged "If anything I'd say you've impro-!"

The ninja froze, then let out a mechanized scream as he began to convulse, Fox gazing at him in alarm as he watched little arcs of lighting run along the frame. With another scream the Ninja vanished, dashing out of the room, a barely noticeable distortion in the air as he dashed out of the room via the same exit Kabuto and Fox himself had used, his cries echoing along the hallway.

--

"Who the hell…?" Fox muttered keeping his weapon trained on the hole in case the nut-job came back, only to holster it and move towards the whimpering Gato, helping him sit up by placing him against the wall "Can you talk?"

"Who...who are you?" Gato asked, eyeing the man nervously, taking in the frighteningly familiar features and eyes with a look of terror.

"Relax, despite my face I'm not one of them." Fox assured him, getting annoyed with the scrutiny "The DARPA Chief told me he gave them his detonation code. What about yours?"

"Oh, I get it." Gato noted, sighing in relief at the man "Fugaku sent you... you're from Konoha!"

"Answer my question!" Fox demanded, grabbing the man's shoulder "What about your code!? There's no time!"

"I... talked." Gato admitted, looking down at the ground with a flinch as Fox growled in exasperation.

"Fan-fucking-tastic!" the blonde groused, prowling about in exasperation "Now the terrorists have both codes and can launch anytime!"

"It's not like I didn't fight!" Gato shot back in his defense "I managed to resist Psycho Sasori's mind probe!"

"He couldn't read you?" Fox asked, looking at the man inquisitively, wondering if there was a trick to it that might come in handy later "How'd you do it?"

"Surgical implants in my brain." Gato explained "Kind of like a psychic insulation. Everybody who knows these top-secret codes has them."

"Even the DARPA Chief?" Fox asked, a sudden frown coming to his face as Gato nodded "But the DARPA Chief said Sasori got his code by reading his mind."

"Are you sure you heard him right?" Gato asked, looking at the agent in outright confusion

"Unless I mysteriously went deaf in the cells." Fox muttered "In any case, how did they get your code?"

"Well…" Gato muttered, letting out a series of pained coughs "I never had any training on how to resist torture..."

Fox winced, recalling Kabuto's dossier and taking in the man's condition "It looks like he had some fun with you all right." He muttered, noting the broken arm and bruises.

"He's not human." Gato hissed bitterly, glaring at the exit the wounded gunman had slunk out of "Sadistic shit loved every second of it, broke my arm in three places, humming the entire time."

"I'd say Karma's a bitch then." Fox noted with a snide smirk on his face "His was sliced off, better hope it's not his 'alone time' one."

"You're a funny man." Gato noted with a dark chuckle "So... the DARPA Chief... is he okay?"

"Dead." Fox supplied, only to blink as Gato began to freak, whacking at him with his cane and screaming about being 'silenced' "Calm down! What the hell's wrong with you?" He demanded, yanking the cane out of the man's hand "I just told you I was here to save you! I didn't kill the old codger, he had a heart attack or something."

"A heart attack?" Gato repeated, seeming to sneer up at Fox in distaste "Oh, don't be a damn fool." He shook his head with a sigh "Oh, what does it matter, those monsters are totally insane. They wouldn't hesitate to launch now."

"I agree." Fox stated, looking at the man carefully "But what is it that they really want? What's their objective?"

"Damned if I know." Gato muttered with a snort "Maybe they're like us in the arms industry... always looking forward to the next good war."

"Well I'm not going to let these maniacs start a war today." Fox stated confidently "I've had enough of those to last me a lifetime." He looked the man over again "Do you still have the card keys? I heard you had them from the chief." His hackles rose as Gato shook his head "Oh come on! Don't tell me the terrorists-?!"

"No, a woman" Gato assured him, shaking his head weakly "A soldier that was thrown in prison along with me and the chief." He coughed again "She said that she had just joined up as a new recruit, and that they threw her in prison because she refused to take part in the rebellion."

'A new recruit?' Fox wondered, recalling the masked ass from before 'Could that be the Colonel's daughter?'

"I gave her the key." Gato revealed "Looks like she managed to break out of here though." He looked about in concern "I hope she's okay."

"I'm sure she is." Fox assured him "She's green...but as tough as they come, nice ass too." He shook himself out of his thoughts to regard the businessman "But how did you know she escaped?"

"I was in contact with her by Codec." Gato explained "Until I was tied up here that is. She stole it from one of the guards." He nodded at Fox "If she still has it, you should be able to contact her."

"What frequency was she on?" Fox asked, hoping to get this little mess over and done with only to stare as Gato looked at him in embarrassment. "Oh don't tell me…"

"Sorry...I forgot..." the businessman offered, smiling apologetically, only to flinch as Fox grabbed his head and growled, looking murderous "W-WAIT! The CD case! I wrote it on the back of the CD case in my pocket!"

--

Fox blinked, reaching into the pocket and pulling out, of all things, a game disk. "I confiscated it off of Dr. Akimichi, one of my employees." Gato explained "He's the team leader of the Metal Gear Bunta project, a genius at engineering, but a bit of an oddball." He nodded at the disk "If there is anyone who can figure out how to stop Metal Gear from launching, it's him."

"What if he can't come up with anything?" Fox asked, pocketing the disk and looking at Gato as he shrugged.

"You'll have to destroy it." The businessmen replied flatly "Akimichi's the only one knows how to destroy Metal Gear. He's probably being held somewhere in the Nuclear Warhead Storage Building. Its north from here, that's where he worked."

"I understand," Fox assured him with a frown "but why in the hell did you revive Metal Gear?"

"This world isn't as peaceful as you think." Gato pointed out "The major superpowers still maintain a significant stand-off. Complete disarmament is an impossibility, so in order to maintain our own policy of deterrence, Yuki need a weapon of overwhelming power." He nodded "You know the arms industry suffered quite a blow as a result of the cut-backs in military budgets, due to this so called peace?"

"I remember hearing a lot about mergers and takeovers among the big weapons makers." Fox admitted hazardously.

"After my company lost their bid to produce the Air Force's next fighter jet, the Metal Gear project was out last ace in the hole." Gato admitted, "That's why we pushed to have Metal Gear developed as a black project. You can avoid a lot of red tape a get a great lead-time on your weapons production." He smirked "And no one can bother you. Not even those bleeding heart liberals on the military oversight committee."

"Bribes." Fox growled, taking in the self-important smirk on the businessman's face with a scowl.

"I prefer to think of it as good business." Gato shot back "Anyway, Metal Gear was going to be formally adopted after the results of this exercise were analyzed."

"I don't give a crap about you and your company." Fox pointed out "If anything, I'm sick to my stomach after listening to what you just said."

"Yes, that's about what I'd expect from a grunt like you." Gato noted with a snort, before reaching into his coat and withdrawing another disk "Here, this is what you came for, right? It's all here. The main hard drive was destroyed by gunfire. This is the only remaining copy of the data."

"What kind of data?" Fox asked, looking over the little thing in confusion. THIS hadn't been in the briefing he'd been given.

"All the data collected from this exercise." Gato shot back with a snort "Don't play dumb, I know you were sent to get this. I hid it from that sadistic maniac while he was torturing me." He smirked "They don't know that this disk exists. Make sure that you report this to Fugaku…to your boss." He pulled out another card "I'll give you my card too. It'll open up all level two security doors."

"Can you walk?" Fox asked, clipping the card to his belt as he stuffed the disks into a separate pocket of his jacket.

"No ...You go on without me." Gato assured him tiredly "They got my password... they don't want anything else from me."

"One more thing." Fox asked, kneeling before the man "Who or what the hell was that ninja thing? It looked like you knew something."

"That was ANBU-HOUND's skeleton in the closet." Gato replied darkly, shivering at some unpleasant memory. "An experimental... genome... soldier..." he trailed off, coughing painfully. "You should ask Dr. Shizune. She knows more on it than I do."

'Shizune?' Fox repeated, only to blink as Gato grabbed the front of his flak jacket with his good hand, eyes dancing desperately behind his cracked spectacles.

"You've got to stop them." The businessman pleaded desperately "If this mess goes public, my company and I are finished!"

"Shouldn't you be more concerned with the fact those bastards have the ability to launch an MC weapon anywhere on the face of this planet?" Fox demanded, only to blink as Gato doubled over in pain 'What the-AGAIN?!'

"What... what did you do to me!?" Gato demanded as he convulsed "Uh...no! It can't be! ...those Konoha bastards...So they...they actually went ahead and did it!" he glared at the confused agent balefully "They... they're just... using you for... uuuhhh!"

Gato convulsed one last time, before slumping to the ground, hand falling from Fox's jacket to land on the floor, unmoving.

--

And so the mystery continues.

What is the relation between Shizune and the cyborg Ninja?

Why do the hostages keep dying?

Could this all be an elaborate Konoha plot?

Gato: Dammit! Why do i always wind up dying?

Kyugan: cause you're a minor villain...for the love of ramen you didn't even do any fighting of your own!

Notes:

Danna: (Pronounced Dan-na) The japanese word for 'Boss', who, as you may of guessed, is Namikaze Minato.

R&R PLZ!

Stay classy reviewers, and thanks for stopping by.

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

Okay...first off, thanks to those who noted the typo's in the last chapter.

Seriously, sometimes I just miss this stuff in print.

Kakashi: Meh, it happens.

Kyugan: Yo, how's the suit holding up?

Kakashi: Not bad...but why does it really shock me?

Kyugan: I had a tazer system installed for added realism, relax, it won't kill you.

Kakashi: 0o?

* * *

File 4: Tests and Tanks.

Fox blinked as the businessman slumped over, waiting a few moments before placing a hand to his neck, his face slowly settled into a scowl as he failed to detect a pulse. "What in the hell is going on around here." He muttered, closing Gato's eyes solemnly; True the man was a repulsive little shit, but he'd been sent to rescue him and the Chief, so the fact both were lying belly up was not something the formerly retired agent felt happy with.

Fortunately, he knew just who to call in these situations.

--140.85--

Fox: (Annoyed) Colonel! What the hell's going on here? Now Gato's dead too!

Yamanaka: I have no idea!

Fox: (Enraged) Don't bullshit me old man! I'm not in the mood for games!

Shizune: (Nervous) It looked like another heart attack but...what could have caused it?

Fox: (Calmer, but still pissed) Poison? He said he'd been tortured...

Shizune: Well, there are a lot of drugs that can cause a heart attack in large doses. (Holds up a finger) Potassium chloride or dioxides for example (Sighs) But we won't be able to tell without doing an autopsy.

Fox: God Dammit! (growls) He my have been scum, but he didn't have to die here.

Yamanaka: Fox, I want you and Ino to work together on this one.

Fox: (Suspicious) Can I trust her? She kind of took potshots at me back in the cells.

Yamanaka: (Looking solemn) More than you can trust me…get in contact with her as soon as you can.

Ten-Ten: Fox, there's a lot of electrical interference coming from there. It should be okay if you do burst transmission like us but normal transmission is probably impossible. Try moving away from that area.

Yamanaka: Fox…get a hold of yourself.

Fox: (ignoring the Colonel) Shizune, what the hell was that ninja thing? A member of ANBU-HOUND?

Shizune: (Solemn) No. There's no one like that in our unit.

Fox: (Frowns suspiciously) Is that right?

Yamanaka: Snake, I'm counting on you.

--End Transmission--

Fox growled and got to his feet, drawing his SOCOM as he made his way back out the passage. He considered taking the path to the left, only to curse and duck his head back in as a gun-camera moved towards him. Noting the sole door was level 6, he opted instead to go back to the elevator, only to frown as the telltale sounds of boots greeted him as he entered the armory, ducking into one of the rooms opened by Card 2 to avoid a patrolling guard.

'Sure…NOW they get serious.' He muttered, crouching behind some crates in case one of them came in, keeping an eye on the patterns on his radar as he reached for his codec, pulling out the game disc and tapping in the frequency, a figure in a balaclava scowling at him as the screen popped into view.

--140.15--

Figure: Who the hell is this?

Fox: You're pretty ungrateful considering I busted you out of that prison, you thank all the guys by firing right at them?

Figure: The one from before? (Frowns suspiciously) Hey, how the heck did you get this frequency?

Fox: Back of a disk. You're the Colonel's daughter, Ino, right?

Ino: (Frowning) It's not him...(Looks at Fox carefully) Just exactly who are you?

Ino: I'm the guy that your old man sent all alone into the middle of this whole mess without so much of a 'by your leave'.

Ino: (Skeptical) You came by yourself? Are you retarded? You think you're some kind of one-man army? You're not even armed!

Fox: I can handle myself, as you saw back in the cells. (Smirks) And I don't need a lecture from someone that leaves the safety on their gun in the middle of a firefight.

Ino: (Blushing) S-SHUT UP! I helped you didn't I! If I hadn't gotten that last one he'd have put you under! (Frowns as Fox chuckles) What's so funny?!

Fox: You're just like your old man; it's fun to get a rise out of him too.

Ino: (Suspicious) How do you know my father?

Fox: We go way back.

Ino: What's your name?

Fox: My name's not important (He smirked) But then, that depends on whose asking.

Ino: (dawning) No way…could you be Fox? Are you Solid Fox?

Fox: Usually I just go by 'Fox'.

Ino: (Amazed) The legendary Solid Fox…You!? (She pulls off the balaclava, looking embarrassed) Sorry about before. I wasn't sure if you were one of the good guys.

Fox: I could tell, good thing you're a lousy shot.

Ino: I was aiming to miss! (Looks away as Fox looks at her) Well I was trying too…wasn't used to the recoil so it strayed to the left.

Ino: It's all right; I can tell you didn't mean anything by your eyes.

Ino: (Blinks) My eyes?

Fox: They're not soldier's eyes.

Ino: (Snorting, looking amused) I know…they're rookie eyes, right?

Fox: Well yes, but they're also beautiful, compassionate eyes. No woman with eyes like that could kill someone who helped them.

Ino: (Snorting in amusement) Just what I'd expect from the legendary Solid Snake. You really are a flirt aren't you?

Fox: Guilty as charged, (smirks) but don't worry, reality's no match for the legend. (Frowns) By the way why'd you freak out when you saw my face?

Ino: Because you look just like him.

Fox: (scowling) You mean the terrorists' leader, Liquid Fox?

Ino: Yeah, you know him? (Frowns) You're not brothers are you?

Fox: (frowns) I have no family.

Ino: Good, cause that guy had wandering hands if you catch my drift. (Sighs in relief) So, what's the deal with you two then?

Fox: Who knows, why don't you ask him? (Frowns) But first I want some information. You were involved in this exercise from the beginning. What exactly happened here?

Ino: I'm sorry. I was captured along with President Gato right after the terrorist attack.

Fox: That's okay. But what is this place? I don't think it is just an MC weapons disposal facility.

Ino: (Shakes her head) Boy oh boy... it's just like them! Nobody told you anything, did they? (Sighs) Okay... you see, this place isn't really for disposing nuclear weapons. This base is owned and operated by a dummy corporation of ArmsTech.

Fox: (Raises an eyebrow) This is a civilian base?

Ino: (Nods) Right; for the development of Metal Gear.

Fox: (Growling) Colonel…!

Ino: ANBU-HOUND and the Next-Generation Special Forces were called here for the test launching of a dummy nuclear warhead.

Fox: Why ANBU-HOUND?

Ino: Because they're a Special Ops group used to handling top secret missions. They figured they could keep it all hush-hush.

Fox: And that turned out SO well. (Shakes his head) But we must have fired MC warheads before. Why just this time?

Ino: I heard it was because this was to be a final test before the formal adoption of the Metal Gear program...that's what I heard anyway.

Fox: Something about this stinks…(Looks at Ino)...So what do you think the terrorists want?

Ino: Like I said, I was captured with President Gato right after the revolt started, so I haven't a clue.

Fox: Oh yeah, that's when he gave you the detonation override keys, right?

Ino: That's right.

Fox: I'm pretty impressed you managed to keep 'em hidden from the guards.

Ino: (Smirks) Well... women have more hiding places than men. (looks concerned) Anyway, you met up with Gato, huh? How's he holding up?

Fox: (Grimly) He's dead...

Ino: What!?

Fox: Heart attack; same as the DARPA Chief.

Ino: (Confused) The Chief died from a heart attack too?

Fox: Yeah, was either of them sick or anything?

Ino: What am I a medic? They looked healthy enough before being dragged off for interrogation.

Fox: Point, but I for one don't believe in coincidences, least of all the fatal kind. Something funny's going on.

Ino: Sounds like it, but damned if I know what.

Fox: Getting back on track, do you know the person who designed Metal Gear?

Ino: You mean Dr. Akimichi?

Fox: Yeah, he still alive?

Ino: Probably. He should be in the second floor basement of the MC Warhead Storage Building to the north.

Fox: Second floor basement?

Ino: Yeah, that's where his lab is. I think they're forcing him to work on the launching program.

Fox: So they'll need him alive until that's done anyway. In case we can't override the detonation code in time, I need to ask him how to destroy Metal Gear.

Ino: You plan to take that thing on by yourself, Snake?

Fox: (Smirks) It won't be the first time...you'd be amazed what you get used to. (Frowns as Ino looks at him in concern) What's the best way to get to the building where the Doctor is being held?

Ino: There's a cargo door on the first floor of this building that leads to the north. It's security level Five, but I've got a level five card.

Fox: Well, I've got to go save the Doctor. You should go...

Ino: I'm going with you!

Fox: The hell you are! You're still too green. The Colonel will have my balls if you get hurt and as you might have guessed, I'm a little attached to them, so I want you to hide somewhere.

Ino: I'm not green! And I don't care what my father thinks; I'm just as capable a soldier as-!

Fox: You pause for just one second in front of your enemy and it's all over! Good luck like what happened back at the prison doesn't last forever!

Ino: (Looks away) I…just don't know what happened. I just couldn't pull the trigger right away. I never had any problems in training... But when I thought about my bullets tearing through those soldiers' bodies…I hesitated.

Fox: Shooting at targets and shooting at living, breathing people are different. (Eyes her comfortingly) Listen, everyone feels sick the first time they kill someone. (Scowls) Unfortunately, killing is one of those things that gets easier the more you do it. You're just a little jumpy from the combat high. The adrenaline in your blood is starting to run out, just take it easy till you feel better.

Ino: But I learned all about combat high at the academy...this isn't the same as what was mentioned!

Fox: We'll talk about it later. For now, just think about keeping yourself alive.

Ino: All right…if I get out of here alive, I'll think about that other stuff. (Looks up stubbornly) But I'm not letting you do this alone.

Fox: (Raises an eyebrow) Wow, the whole prissy princess routine was cute before, but the whole 'don't fuck with me' bit was kind of hot too.

Ino: (Scoffs) You're a real bastard, just like my dad said. (Sighs) Okay Fox, I'll be a good girl.

Fox: We'll link up after I grab the Doctor. Then we'll take care of the detonation code override.

Ino: Got ya. But listen, I know this area better than you. Call me if you have any questions.

Fox: Be careful, okay? I wasn't kidding about your old man earlier.

Ino: Relax, I'll contact you once I get the cargo door open. (smirks, pulling on a balaclava) Besides, I don't believe in spaying animals.

--End Transmission--

'A real wise-ass.' Fox noted with a smirk, 'Just like the Colonel in every way.'

He blinked, a grin spreading across his face as he holstered the SOCOM, lifting up the brand new FAMAS lying on the crate in front of him. A quick search uncovered a crate of box of ammunition, which he stuffed into another pocket of his jacket, separate from the others lest he got confused.

'I swear when I get back I'm taking that girl on the wildest ride of her life.' Fox swore, grinning as he loaded the weapon with a magazine, pulling the slide back to check for blockage as he waited until the guards walked past, pocketing a few extra C4 packs he found lying around before slipping down the hallway and making a dash for the elevator, riding it up to the top floor and rolling under the tank directly in front just as his Codec went off again.

--140.15--

Ino: Fox, I just unlocked the cargo door for you.

Fox: Thanks, where are you?

Ino: Where I can see ya. (smirks) Don't worry, I'm disguised in this enemy uniform.

Fox: You won't be for long with that walk of yours.

Ino: (Confused) My walk? What does that mean?

Fox: Lets just say you bring new meaning to the term 'baby got back'.

Ino: (Shocked) What the-you were staring at my ass?!

Fox: (grins) Hard not to, next to your eyes it's your best feature. (Smirks) What, don't tell me you never noticed anyone staring?

Ino: Oh grow up. (Huffs) Listen, the cargo door is like an airlock, equipped with infrared sensors. If an intruder is sensed, gas is released from the vents. Let's meet at the MC Warhead Storage Building.

Fox: Hold on a damn second! You said you'd stay put and be a good girl!

Ino: I changed my mind. I never was good at following orders…too much of a rebel.

Fox: Damn…fine, but keep your guard up, these guys are professionals; if you're caught you'll get yourself killed.

Ino: Didn't know you cared, are you worried about me? (Winks at him) See ya!

--End Transmission--

'I swear to god I'm gonna give that girl the mother of all spankings when I get my hands on her.' Fox grumbled; part of him infuriated at how lightly she was taking the situation, but the other grinning at the innuendo. Crawling out from under the tank, he crept towards the cargo doors and slipped through them. Waiting for the door to shut, he turned round to look for the sensors, catching the dull hum as they powered away.

'How am I supposed to avoid them…' he wondered idly, before recalling an old trick he'd seen Danna employ back in the field and smirking, pulling out one of his, surprisingly dry, cancer sticks from his pocket and lighting up. Ignoring the blaring of the codec, he took a long, satisfying drag, before exhaling right in front of him, smirking as several misty red beams came into view.

'And they say these things kill,' he joked, weaving between the beams with the grace of a cat 'bet the surgeon general never went on missions.'

Once on the other side of the hallway, he opened the cargo door, only to blink as the Codec started up again, deciding to humor the good doctor's protests, only to blink as he was faced with static.

--140.48--

??: Fox, be careful. There are Claymore mines around there. Use a mine detector.

Fox: Who are you?

??: Just call me "Deep throat".

Fox: (Snorting) Deep throat? Are you kidding me? Who calls themselves that?

Deep Throat: Never mind about that.

Fox: All right then Fellatio, riddle me this: You're not using burst transmission. Are you nearby?

Deep Throat: Perhaps…and it's Deep Throat. (Pauses) Listen. There's a tank in front of your position waiting to ambush you.

Fox: Who are you anyways? Other than seriously in need of a better Codename generator.

Fox: One of your fans.

--End transmission--

'Great, another FAN.' Fox muttered, recalling the last person to refer to themselves as such. It had turned out to be nothing more than a ploy to lure him into a one-on-one fight with someone he'd considered a friend…a mentor.

Shaking himself, Fox looked around concernedly, mentally kicking himself for neglecting to pick up a mine detector from the armory, only to blink as a box in the corner of the doorway caught his eye. 'From Deep Throat with Love.' He read, grimacing at the tacky heart at the end of the note 'Why the hell do I always wind up meeting freaks on these missions?'

The man's attitude took a prompt 180 when he lifted out a small, beeper like object that could be attacked to his belt, several blips appearing on his radar the minute he picked it up. 'Well I'll be a monkey's uncle.' He muttered, smirking as he realized they were mines 'A portable mine detector, and so convenient too.'

He clipped the little gadget to his belt, noting the position of each mine as he made his way forwards, only to blink as the door on the opposite side opened up, eyes widening as he gazed down the barrel of a tank turret.

"Oh SHI-!"

BRAKOOM!

--

The force of the shell exploding sent the former ANBU-HOUND agent flying backwards, the FAMAS landing in the snow as he collided with the Cargo door, sliding to the ground with a grunt. 'Huh…didn't think I'd survive that one.' He muttered half jokingly, ignoring the blaring of the codec as he got to his feet 'Then again, never did get shot by a tank…yet another thing to chalk off the list.'

"This is Oni territory." A voice from within the tank announced, the hatch opening to reveal a large, man with a massive frame, his orange Mane and haughty smirk making him look quite dangerous as he grabbed the machine gun on top. "I haven't had a fox hunt in a while, don't think you're getting out of this alive!"

"Hey Asshole…" Fox growled, rolling out of the way as a burst of machinegun fire tore up the snow next to him, the Fat-man's laughter rolling about the canyon "A tank? C'mon, overcompensating much?"

"Shut up!" the man snapped firing the machine gun at Fox with avengeance, a scowl on his face "Prey doesn't talk, it merely dies!"

"Okay I'm not saying I've never fought one before." Fox elaborated, as if he were in an interview, rather than a firefight "but c'mon, a tank? Against little old me?" He skipped to the side "Don't I feel special."

"That's right, run around with your tail between your legs like the mutt you are." The man growled, ceasing fire and dropping back in the tank as a genome grunt replaced him up top "You're no Fox! You're just a mongrel runt! I'll make it so you can't feel a thing!"

"Plenty of practice with your girlfriend huh?" Fox called out, drawing a snort from the genome guard atop the tank "I bet she has to record everything just to see if you'd actually done it. He smirked as the turret fired at him, rolling out of the way and rushing forwards, dodging round after round of bullets as he weaved towards the tank, pulling a grenade he'd swiped from the guards earlier and hurling it right into the turret, rolling clear to avoid being flattened by the behemoth as it rolled past.

"What's wrong?" the man's voice called out tauntingly "Not going to run? All out of snappy comebacks?" the turret leveled at Fox, who merely smiled and gave the tank the finger, the pin of the grenade still wrapped around it "What the…SONOVA-!"

BRAKOOM!

--

Fox watched with a rather smug look on his face as the metal behemoth went up, flames blasting out of the vents and turret, following the trajectory of the single guard manning the machinegun as he was thrown violently out of the tank, landing on the ground in front of him. The grunt stood up, his parka on fire as he batted at the flames ineffectively, all the while screaming at the top of lungs in a sad, pathetic way. The grunt was so worked up he ran right into the sucker punch Fox leveled at his face, knocking him on his back out cold, the fire smothered by the snow and ice below.

"Pleasant dreams." Fox joked, crouching next to the idiot and rifling through his pockets, coming up with a level 3 card and a few extra grenades, before turning to the door the tank had crawled out of, picking up his FAMAS as he left the smoking wreck to the elements.

--

"Well, Boss." The large man muttered, scowling as he watched the agent slink away through the grate in the tank "I hope you're happy. He got the card."

"We'll play with him a little longer..." the cultured voice informed him over the radio of the tank "At least until he serves his purpose."

"We shouldn't underestimate this one." The giant muttered, climbing out of the tank with a cough. "He fights as if possessed by a devil when in battle…"

"Just like I told you boss." Kabuto's voice noted, coming onto the radio with an air of smugness "But don't worry yourself Oni, I'll be the one to skin that fox."

"Sure you don't want a hand with that?" Oni asked, his tone as mocking as the smirk on his face as he held the radio held in his massive hand.

"Oh ha-ha, laugh it up you tub of lard." Kabuto snapped, "Did you burst your few brain cells coming up with that? Unlike you, I had to deal with that damn ninja, on foot." He snorted mocking "Oh, and remind me again, who was it that decided using the only operational tank to challenge him would be a good idea?"

"Watch it cripple…" Oni growled, tightening his grip on the radio, cracking the case "I may be hunting Fox right now, but there's always room on the plate for some shellfish."

"Fair dues," Kabuto pointed out smugly, "But Fox is mine now...The next time we meet, I'll take special care of him, so I hope you don't mind your meat a little tender.

"Not yet," the cultured voice ordered, silencing the quarrel between the two instantly "You are not to kill him yet."

"Sorry boss." Oni offered, before looking towards the door Fox had entered "Don't worry…I'll fight him again soon…" he rubbed his finger along a cut on his cheek, licking the blood "His coursing blood shall quench my thirst."

--

And so the second boss fight is concluded.

Will Fox survive the test of Shadow Moses?

Will Kabuto and Oni battle over the legend?

And just WHERE is Ino hiding?

Notes:

Oni: Japanese word for demon/devil/ogre: as many may have guessed, the roll of Vulcan Oni is being played by Jiroubo, in cursed seal level 2 form.

Stay classy reviewers, and thanks for stopping by.

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

I feel happy...oh so happy!

Kakashi: Why are you singing?

Kyugan: No reason, and what are YOu doing here? You're IN this episode!

Kakashi: I am? (Reads script) SHIT! (VISOR shuts and he turns on stealth)

Naruto: Can I get one of those?

Kyugan: No.

Naruto: Awe...

* * *

File 5. Hound in the Hallway.

'Okay seriously, ANBU-HOUND has really gone to hell since Danna went down.' Fox muttered with a scowl, shuddering as the cold air was shut off behind him, sealing the hangar from the elements with a solemn clank 'And don't get me started on these Genome-rejects, I mean come on, why haven't they raised the freaking alarm yet?'

He grimaced, recalling how easily he'd snuck through the supposedly airtight security of the facility. Hell, he'd even blown up a freaking TANK and the bastards hadn't even come to investigate. Sure he was good, but shouldn't explosions ripping through a base draw more attention?

'Even the Outer Heaven guys are acting like freaking retards,' he noted, recalling how painstakingly efficient they'd been on his first mission 'yet another thing science fucked up, when'll they learn to leave well enough alone?'

Shaking himself out of such morbid thoughts, the agent twitched at the subtle change in temperature, creeping forwards at a crouch into the shadowed hangar, opting to take the route to the observation window above, rather than going through the hangar door right off the bat. He found someone's rations stuffed under the desk, shrugging and pocketing the god-awful things for later, stuffing one into his mouth and chewing slowly, grimacing at the taste as he snuck a look out the observation window, blinking at the sight before him in surprise.

'That's a LOT of warheads.' Fox muttered ominously, shivering as he regarded the disassembled WMDs below, two of them still in their frames but obviously not fit to be launched without several key parts, namely an engine and a few layers of shielding. Several guards were patrolling the area, armed with the usual FAMAS rifles and balaclavas, but had added to the ensemble with gasmasks in the event of a radiation leak. One looked up, causing Fox to duck down and hold his breath, only to exhale as no one raised the alarm or came to investigate.

The Codec sounded, Fox not even twitching as he reached for his ear.

--140.85--

Yamanaka: Listen up Fox, You absolutely must not use weapons in that area.

Shizune: I've already programmed the nano-machines so that he won't be able to, Colonel.

Fox: (Surprised) Say what?! What in the hell are you talking about? Why can't I use weapons?!

Shizune: Can't you see the warheads stored in that room? Every single warhead on the island is stored right there.

Fox: No shit, s'like a Freakin' 'Warheads R Us' down there. There's boxes piled up to the ceiling...some of em are just lying about. But I can't believe they just left them out there like that, what about disposal procedures?

Yamanaka: (Grim) ArmsTech was working on a limited budget, and Gato is…or was, notorious for cutting corners to save money. The firm tries putting on a nice, eco-friendly face for the media, but this facility is a prime example of the grim reality.

Shizune: Fox, all the warheads in those boxes have had their detonation mechanisms removed so there's no fear of them exploding. But before you decide to go trigger happy you should know that if something breaks them open they might start to radiate chakra, and you know just how serious a problem that can be.

Fox: I hear ya...(Scowls) I lost some good friends because of Chakra radiation...I don't need to be told what it can do.

Yamanaka: Remember Fox; you must never use your weapon on that floor.

Fox: Yeah, fine whatever, but if a gunfight breaks out don't blame me for turning this place into a hot-zone.

--End Transmission--

'Of all the freaking things to cut corners with.' Fox muttered, testing his trigger finger only to grunt as it froze against his will, strapping the rifle across his back as he made his way down the ramp towards the partially open hangar door below 'You'd think Ame would have taught them better, but Nooooooo.'

He paused briefly to determine the guards' positions with the radar before crawling under the door, making a dash towards a pile of warheads and crouching behind them, every hair on his body rising slightly as he felt the energy within the lead frame rotating wildly.

A prodigal scientist called Nagato, who'd been researching Chakra for practical uses, had discovered Mass Chakra weaponry. He'd theorized that forcing chakra to fluctuate continuously, whilst inverting the polarity, would provide a higher level of output. The man couldn't have been more right, as the first test had wiped Uzumaki No Kuni off the face of the earth, and instigated what became known as the Cold War, with everyone fighting to get their hands on the stuff.

Waiting for a guard to pass, Fox crept his way towards a truck, ducking out of sight behind the disassembled missiles before climbing in, nearly tripping over what appeared to be a remote missile launcher. Briefly wondering what the guards had been planning on doing with it, he instead turned his attention to memorizing the patrols of the guards, noting with some twisted satisfaction that they were acting pretty professional for the first time since he started, hardly a second's lag-time between patrols and covering a wide area with their vision. Clearly not your average genome grunts.

'Looks like Danna's gang managed to hold onto their brains a little longer than the rest.' He noted grimly, some twisted part of him appreciating the challenge and grateful that their experience hadn't been wasted 'Still…leaves me in a bit of a quandary...or does it?'

He reached into his pocket for a spent magazine, taking aim just as the guards all turned away from his position. Hurling it purposefully, the spent magazine flew silently and slowly through the air, hardly making a sound as it arched towards its destination, the hangar door, or more accurately, the crawlspace beneath it, and the strip of hallway past it. The Magazine clattered audibly against the grate under the door, alerting all the guards as they scrambled to investigate the noise right outside their post, doubtlessly expecting him, unaware that he was already among their midst.

'Just like old times.' Fox noted with a grin, hefting the NIKITA launcher over his shoulder 'You and me are going places.' He swore, patting the launcher lovingly before jumping out of the truck and making a break for the stairs whilst everyone's backs were turned.

Sneaking up the steps with his heart in his throat, Fox crouch-walked towards the elevator, hitting the switch and laying low as he waited for it to arrive, sweating slightly as some of the guards began to look away from hangar door and scout the room, the others impatient to investigate the disturbance. The elevator arrived with a soft chime, Fox ducking inside as quietly and quickly as possible pressing against the wall as he hit the button for the basement, finally relaxing as the doors slid shut, the sound of the motor heralding the elevator's descent to the basement.

Fox exhaled softly, his nerves settling down as he felt the dull warmth of the weapons fade away, setting the launcher on the floor as he drew his SOCOM, prepping it the minute the doors slid open. He blinked at the sight of the foggy corridor beyond the glass door before him, the burning sensation in his nostrils alerting him to the hazard even as he instinctively reached for his beeping codec.

--140.48--

Deep throat: (Face hidden by static, Amiable) Yo!

Fox: Fellatio? Is that you?

Deep Throat: It's Deep Throat (Sighs) still a brat at heart I see.

Fox: So what's up morning breath? What dastardly dilemma are you going to warn me of now?

Deep Throat: Well, you see that corridor in front of you? Someone thought it'd be fun to fill it with gas.

Fox: No shit Sherlock. You sure someone didn't just cut the cheese? I mean, I met this one guy earlier who-

Deep Throat: (Serious) I'm certain. This type does more than smell bad, but a gas mask should make things a little easier for you, there should be one in the rooms right ahead.

Fox: (Suspicious) You know this place pretty well, you hiding in here somewhere?

Deep Throat: (Dismissive) Just took note as I was passing through. (Genial) Also, watch that first step, the floor's electrified.

Fox: (Annoyed) Okay, seriously, who in the hell designed this facility? What kind of sick freak goes and turns the floor into a freaking bug-zapper?

Deep Throat: Someone who doesn't want you to know what's on the other side of that hallway. If you want to proceed, you'll have to first destroy the switchboard on the northwest wall.

Fox: And how do you expect me to do that? I can't just walk over to it with the floor lit up like this.

Deep Throat: Use the remote-controlled missile launcher I left for you.

Fox: (Annoyed) The Hell?! How do you always seem to know what I need? Why're you helping me?

Deep Throat: Like I said, I'm a fan of yours. If you want more answers, I suggest you look beneath the underneath.

--End Transmission--

'Did he just…?'Fox stammered, gazing at the dead codec signal in shock for a few minutes 'No…that's impossible…'

He shook himself, trying not to think too hard on what his mysterious benefactor had just said. It had been one of Danna's own mottos, something he'd drummed into every one of his charges until they knew it by heart, especially the fledgling Solid Fox.

'Could he be a survivor from the old guard?' Fox wondered briefly, recalling quite a few of Danna's henchmen with not so fond memories, only to frown, dismissing that thought instantly. 'No, I wiped them all out…I identified the corpses myself.'

Shaking himself out of those morbid thoughts, he readied the NIKITA and took aim down the corridor, holding his breath as the glass door opened, gas wafting out as he fired, careful not to step on the ominously humming floor. Through the scope, he watched the missile's progress, taking note of a handy gasmask lying on one of the tables not too far away from his position, before focusing in on the switchboard, cursing as the screen began to grow fuzzy as the projectiles limited battery died.

'C'mon-c'mon…!' he chanted, mentally, throat tightening as he fought the urge to breath, only to leap back, the glass door shutting as an explosion rocked the walls, the lights flickering wildly for a few seconds before settling down, the floor falling silent as the power was cut off. Not one to take a chance, Fox chucked one of his spent magazines at the floor, watching it carefully as it clattered harmlessly down the hallway, before sighing and placing the NIKITA on the floor.

'Here goes nothing…' he muttered, taking a deep breath of the unpolluted air before running forwards, eyes burning as the glass barrier opened, enveloping him in gas. His eyes watered as he tried to make his way through the hallway to where he'd spied the mask, his lungs growing tighter even as he scooped the apparatus up, dashing the rest of the way to the door at the end of the hallway, rather than risk going back the long way.

For a brief moment he feared that the door would be a higher level than the cards he possessed, but those fears proved needless as the portal slid open, allowing him to roll clear of the corridor, the door shutting behind him, cutting off the noxious gas with a hiss.

--

"Definitely not fun." Fox gasped, taking in sweet gulps of air as he slumped against the wall, out of range of the card reader so the door wouldn't open and let the stuff in "These guys have to be crazy, filling the hall with traps like that." He chuckled briefly, shaking his head with a wry smirk "My kinda folks."

Screams and gunfire from behind the door to his immediate right caused him to sit up straight, his hackles raised and instantly on edge. Crouching low, Fox un-holstered his FAMAS, releasing the safety with a grimace as the sounds of slaughter continued, the cries of desperation growing more insistent.

During a brief lull in the grisly background noise, Fox attempted to peer through the door's viewing window, only for a guard's face to smash against it, his skull cracking open from the impact, leaving a trail of blood and brain matter on the glass.

"SHIT!" the blonde exclaimed, ducking behind the wall and tightening his grip on the FAMAS as the number of screams decreased "Someone's having a little too much fun in there." He muttered, shivering as he heard the numbers decreasing by the second, moving further away.

The screams stopped suddenly, a little TOO suddenly for Fox to feel comfortable, so he readied the rifle, checking the magazine whilst sidling up to the door, opening it and sweeping the corridor with a grim face. Someone had decided to redecorate in red, using the guards as unwitting material. One of the poor bastards was suspended off the floor, his head embedded in the wall. Another had the imprint of a foot on the side of his head, brain matter leaking out of the crushed cranium like egg yolk, whilst yet another had his head stuck in the ceiling, the neck shredded and ready to fall apart. The most morbid scene was the sight of one guard lying in halves, the wound apparently cauterized by whatever the hell cut him, the scent of burnt copper filling the air.

Fox grimaced as a drop of blood fell from the ceiling, where it had sprayed from the earlier massacre. He flinched as something rounded the corner, only to relax as a clearly traumatized guard came into view, both arms missing. "It's... it's a ghost!" the man stammered, staggering towards Fox desperately, only to spasm, his back erupting in a spray of blood, a choked cry escaping as he fell to the floor, dead.

Fox was moving before the man even started to fall, passing him and pressing against the corner, peering round to see a familiar distortion in the air holding up a struggling guard from behind. The guard's cries were cut off as a bloody blade exited his chest, only visible because of the blood that coated it. The blur dropped it's kill and turned aside, Fox ducking out of sight, only for it to open the door next to it and walk through.

'Looks like that ninja again.' Fox muttered grimacing as he stepped in a puddle of blood next to the armless guard "Fast, relentless, brutal…and incredibly efficient.' he narrowed his eyes 'Definitely ANBU-HOUND, from Danna's era if I'm any judge.'

A scream, high and pleading, echoed behind the door, Fox sliding through it to find a large, corpulent man backtracking across the floor, looking fearfully at distorted green blur before him.

--

"S…Stealth c-camouflage?" the tubby scientist asked, his face paling in terror, the scent of urine filling the lab as he pissed his family size jeans, steam rising from the floor between his legs "W-Who are you? Don't hurt me!"

"Relax." the ninja ordered, deactivating his stealth as he crouched before the man, "Tell me…where is my friend? Is he in here?"

"What... what are you talking about?" the fat man pleaded, eyes widening in terror at the sight of Fox sidling up from behind the ninja, SOCOM drawn "Oh God, what next?"

"Back off there Rin-tin-tin." Fox ordered, keeping his sight trained on the blue of the ninja's exoskeleton, his eyes narrowed sharply "No sudden movements...unless you want some extra ventilation."

"Yo, Fox." The ninja greeted in his synthesized voice, sounding oddly jovial as he turned to face the agent "You like the NIKITA I left for you?"

"Who are you?" Fox demanded, not in the mood to be led around by the nostril any longer, things were going to hell in a proverbial hand basket, as it was "Friend or foe?"

"Testy as always." The Ninja noted with a digital sigh of disappointment "Well, I'm certainly not your enemy…but then I don't suppose you'd consider me a friend either. Where I come from, such words are meaningless."

"Just what the hell do you want with me?" Fox demanded fingering the trigger in annoyance, not liking that elusive answer one bit "Lemme come right out and say that stalkers make my trigger finger itch."

"You really haven't changed…" the ninja noted with a digital chuckle as he twirled the katana "I've waited a long time for this day...to see how far you've grown." He pointed the sword at the Fox "But I'd hate to rush things, so let's savor it, shall we?"

"Savor? You're saying you want to fight me?" Fox asked with a frown "For what reason? Revenge?"

"Oh no," the ninja assured him "nothing so trivial as that." He titled his head slightly "A fight to the death with you…testing you to see how far you've surpassed your limits…only in that can my soul find respite." He nodded, pointing his word at Fox's face "Either I surpass you or you surpass me again…either way I win."

--

Fox growled, noting out the corner of his eye that the tub of lard in a lab coat was getting to his feet, eyeing them carefully as the ninja rattled on. With a cry of terror, the porker dived into a locker of all things, stuffing several pounds of blubber into the dingy thing with the skills that rivaled a master contortionist.

"Hoh? He's pretty nimble for such a large fellow isn't he?" the ninja noted calmly in digital bemusement "I suppose he can watch from inside there."

"How in the hell'd he do that?" Fox muttered "Gotta be like a can of Spam in there…" he shook himself "Never mind, I need that man alive, so keep your hands off him."

"Oh come now…" the ninja chastised, twirling his sword threateningly "you really ought to have learned by now Fox…" he readied the blade "In hostage situations, always take out the enemy first."

Fox leapt back, rolling to the side and firing at the ninja, only for the bullets to be deflected. Occasionally, the cyborg would simply slice through the slugs, leaving them lying vivisected on the floor whilst hardly moving from his position, save to swipe at Fox if he came too close.

"Same old tricks again." The ninja noted, sounding disappointed as he tilted and weaved past the metal slugs "Really, has the only thing that improved over the years been your tongue-?!"

He was cut off as a bullet clipped his flank, causing a brief spark of circuitry and distracting him long enough for a second to catch him on the hand, sending the Katana flipping through the air to embed itself in the floor. "I see…reflect shot." The ninja noted with a slightly approving tone, regarding Fox's stance "Danna's specialty, or one of them anyways." He tilted his head "It seems right that you use it now."

"Flattery'll get you nothing but another bullet, this time in your ass." Fox shot back, keeping the gun aimed at the ninja 's helmet "Just try picking that thing up, I'll take your hand off next time."

"That won't be necessary." The ninja assured him, settling into a fighting stance Fox instantly recognized, Danna's infamous CQC "THIS is how I truly wished to settle this."

"Mano-a-Mano huh?" Fox muttered, gritting his teeth as he tried to suppress the unsettling images that were vying for attention behind his eyeballs, this all seemed FAR too familiar "Alright." He agreed, holstering the SOCOM and stepping forwards.

They crept closer, neither rushing in, feeling the other out, only for Fox to make the first strike, ducking low and attempting a double leg sweep. The ninja leapt over the blonde, landing behind him and lashing out with an elbow to the ear. Fox countered by grabbing the offending arm and twisting savagely, something that would have normally dislocated the limb had it not been for the exoskeleton protecting it.

The ninja grunted, flipping out of the hold and springing off the wall, performing a rolling somersault into Fox, swiftly following it up with a punch, only for Fox to tilt his head out of the way and knee the cyborg between the legs, grabbing him by the neck and delivering a head butt, receiving a blow to the liver before hurling the thing off him.

The Ninja rolled with the throw, rising to his knees as Fox got to his feet warily, already in a CQC stance. "Yare-yare…you really have improved." the cybernetic assailant applauded, sounding strangely pleased with the turn of events "Even through this Exoskeleton I felt those blows, those infamous 'murder punches' of yours haven't lost their bite since the old days."

He stood to his full height, standing over the agent by half a foot at least, regarding him solemnly with those emotionless eye-slots, his hands resting at his sides, as if he was pretending to have pockets. "Well?" he asked, nodding at the agent "Do you remember me now…Fox?"

--

Fox grimaced, listening to the semi-bored tone, taking in the posture, relaxed and yet ready to react at a moment's notice, and the dull cold that seemed to echo in that voice that sent a jolt up his spine as they'd fought.

Only one man had inspired such a distinct battle rush in Solid Fox, a man who had trained him, acted as his superior and colleague, his rival and friend, his ambition and obstacle. A man that had been praised as the perfect soldier, a genius in the art of warfare and espionage.

A man that Fox had left for dead, in the ruins of Zanzibar, all those years ago.

"It can't be…" Fox insisted, resisting the urge to take a step back, keeping his hands away from his holster despite his instincts to open fire on this ghost from the past "You were killed in Zanzibar...at the minefield!"

"Looks like you figured it out…" the ninja noted, the eye slots titling to inverted U's mysteriously "I knew all you needed was the right incenti-!"

Lightning arched over the exoskeleton once again, the ninja letting loose a primal scream of torment as he began to convulse violently, Fox backtracking cautiously as he regarded the scene with wide eyes.

"The... the mediciiiiine!" the cyborg managed to get out between screams, falling to the ground at the feet of a startled Solid Fox and slamming his head into the ground repeatedly, the helmet leaving dents in the once smooth steel as he gripped it tightly, writhing from side to side "I...I... I'm losing myself...! Waaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!"

Before Fox could come to grips with the situation, the ninja leapt to his feet, running along the walls like a demented spider, screaming and convulsing like something out of a horror film as he made for the exit, dashing down the bloody corridor with his stealth activated once again.

'Not him…' Fox breathed, actually feeling sick as he felt his pulse slow in the ensuing silence 'Of all the things to come back and haunt me…'

Deciding this was something that needed immediate attention, if not counseling, Fox reached for his codec, holing up under a desk just in case someone came to investigate the noise.

--140.85--

Fox : Grey Hound! Colonel, that ninja is Grey Hound!

Yamanaka: Ridiculous! You of all people should know he died in Zanzibar! You killed him with your own two hands!

Shizune: (fighting a flinch as she looks solemn) No, he should have died... but he didn't.

Yamanaka: What!?

Shizune: It happened before I joined ANBU-HOUND's medical staff. They were using a soldier for their gene therapy experiments.

Yamanaka: (Outraged) I never heard that! On who's authority?!

Shizune: (Seemingly indifferent) It happened right after you retired. My predecessor, Dr. Koharu, was in charge.

Yamanaka: (Face grim) Dr. Koharu.

Shizune: Yes. She was the one who initiated the gene therapy project.

Fox: (Growling) And where is the good doctor now? I got a bone to pick with her.

Shizune: Sorry to disappoint you, but she was killed in an explosion in her lab two years ago.

Fox: (Annoyed) Damn…and what about the soldier they experimented on?

Shizune: Apparently for their test subject, they decided to use the body of a soldier who was recovered after the fall of Zanzibar...one of the finest of Danna's troops.

Fox: And that was Grey Hound...Danna's right hand man…and the only man to receive the designation of 'Hound'.

Yamanaka: (Confused) But he was already dead...unless there's a way to survive landing belly up on a landmine.

Shizune: (Uncomfortable) He was certainly dead, but Koharu and her team revived him. (Frowns in disgust) They fitted him with a prototype exoskeleton and kept him drugged for four years while they experimented on him like a plaything. Today's genome soldiers were born from those experiments.

Yamanaka: (Grimacing) That's the sickest thing I ever heard…and I've served in as ANBU-HOUND's commander since the Outer Heaven incident was closed.

Fox: (Suspicious) Shizune…why in the hell didn't you tell us about this sooner? Don't you think having some sort of failed Robo-Cop, Frankenstein's monster running around would make this a little difficult?!

Shizune: Because it's confidential information.

Fox: (Pissed) Is that the only reason? Anything personal you'd care to add to the list? Cause last I checked, the total bullshit quota for the hour hasn't been met!

Yamanaka: (Angry) Fox! That's quite enough! I know you're stressed but keep your act together! (To Shizune) What happened to Grey Hound after that?

Shizune: (Shakily, avoiding Fox's eyes) The record says he died in the explosion…but I think Fox just proved those records were invalid.

Fox: (Deadpan) No shit, both Kabuto and I can vouch that Hound's still alive and kicking. I've the bruises to prove it.

Yamanaka: But even if that ninja were Grey Hound, why on earth would he fight you now?

Fox: From what I could tell, he didn't know who he was half the time. (Grunts) Hell, the way he was running on the walls he probably can't tell up from down.

Yamanaka: Are you saying that he's just a mindless robot?

Fox: Hell if I know, but he seems intent on fighting me to the death. (Frowns) We'll meet again, I know it.

Shizune: (Frowns) So you'll fight again? Until you kill him?

Fox: (Solemn)...I'd rather not, hell I'd rather a lot of things had turned out differently in the past…but maybe that's exactly what he wants...

Shizune gazes at Fox silently, before signing off the codec.

--End Transmission--

And so another chapter comes to a close.

Will Fox kill Grey Hound...again?

What other secrets await?

And Will Dr. Akimichi get out of the closet?

Chouji: (Still in the closet !)HEY! JUST WHAT ARE YOU IMPLYING?!

Kyugan: Never you mind, have a cookie.

Chouji: YAY! (Closet rattles violently for a few seconds)...I'm stuck!

Kyugan: Really? Oh well! More for me!

Chouji: TT

R&R!

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

Kyugan: Man...is it dead in here or is it just me?

Naruto: (Eyes the blood on the ceiling from errant flamers) uh...

Kyugan: Meh, who cares, you're on in five.

* * *

File 6: Otacon in a can.

Fox frowned as he got to his feet, more unnerved by his conversation with his supposed 'support team' than comforted, with even more questions than he'd had before he called. Just how many secrets were being kept behind his back? Were there any more skeletons in ANBU-HOUND's considerable closet that were going to come back and haunt him? Either way, he'd have to deal with them on the run, he had a mission, and unless the terrorists all had changes of heart, he was going to have to step on it if he hoped to destroy Metal Gear.

'And for that, I'm gonna need butterball here.' He noted, turning to regard the locker the good doctor had crammed himself into with a frown "How long are you going to stay in there?" he asked, putting a hand on his hip "Can't be too comfortable."

"It isn't." the nervous voice of the large man agreed pitifully as he peered out at the agent through the grills in the door "Are you...one of them?"

"The terrorists?" Fox elaborated, shaking his head "No, I'm not. I always work alone, even if it's only because I get screwed over by the higher ups."

"Alone?" the scientist repeated, sounding oddly hopeful as he peered at the agent from behind the straining metal door "Are you an Otaku too?"

"A what?" Fox asked, shaking his head dismissively before the man could answer " Never mind, c'mon, get your ass out of there, I haven't got all day." The Locker rattled briefly, a few pained grunts coming from the inside as the whole thing actually jumped and shook, before settling down. "Oh don't tell me…" Fox growled, glaring at the locker in annoyance "You're stuck, aren't you?"

"Yeah." The scientist admitted ashamedly, sounding absolutely mortified at the predicament he was in. He let out a squeal as Fox's boot rammed into the locker door, denting it and causing it to fall to the floor, the doctor sprawling out of it on all fours with a yelp, looking up at the annoyed agent in alarm.

"You're the Metal Gear chief engineer, Dr. Akimichi Chouji right?" Fox asked, nodding at the man's look of confusion "I heard about you from Ino." At the man's blank stare he frowned "The one with the ass."

"Oh!" Chouji noted, his eyes wide with relief and recognition as he got to his feet, a smile nervous smile stretching across his features "So you're here to rescue me?"

"Sorry, but no." Fox countered, failing to look apologetic "There's something that I've got to do first. Something I need YOUR help with."

"Oh, well..." Chouji noted with a sigh, leaning against the destroyed locker as he walked across the room "at least you're not one of THEM."

"You hurt?" Fox asked, noting the man's limp with mild concern, only for the scientist to shake his head, smiling in embarrassment.

"I'm okay." he assured the blonde, grunting as he rested against a desk "I just twisted my ankle a little bit trying to fit in there."

"Well, that's nothing to worry about for the moment." Fox noted, pushing aside his urge to make a comment about the man's size. "I want to ask you something, I need information about the Metal Gear you were developing. What's it really designed for?"

"It's a mobile TMD." Akimichi relayed, looking quite proud with himself "It was designed to shoot down missiles, only for defensive purposes of course-!"

"Don't bullshit me fat-ass!" Fox snarled, grabbing the man by the collar and lifting all 600 pounds of him off the floor "I already know that Metal Gear is nothing more than an MC-equipped, walking death mobile! I've fought it often enough to know nothing good EVER comes from it!"

"What are you talking about?!" the doctor exclaimed, looking fearfully at the man that was holding him up with no apparent trouble, quite a feat when you consider he was the size and weight of a manatee, and quite proud of it.

"The terrorists are planning to use Metal Gear to launch an MC missile." Fox relayed, getting right into the man's face "Don't tell me you honestly didn't have a clue what was going on around you!"

Fox glared at the man in his grip, sorely tempted to slam his head against the wall for all the trouble he;d caused, only to blink as he took note of the abject confusion in the doctor's gaze, setting him back on his feet with a frown "Shit…you really didn't did you?" he asked, sighing bitterly "Alright listen up. Everything you think you knew about this project was a sham, the true purpose of this exercise was to test Metal Gear's launch capability using a dummy warhead." He looked the man in the eye as he tossed him away "The terrorists are just continuing the work you started, with LIVE ammo."

--

"This can't be happening…" Chouji stammered, holding his head as he sat against the desk "you're wrong...this can't be happening!"

"I wish it wasn't either, but it's the truth." Fox assured the man grimly, arms crossed across his chest as he looked down at the man "I got it straight from your boss, Gato, right before he kicked the bucket." He frowned at Chouji as the fat man held his head in his hands "So you really didn't know?

"All the armament was built by a separate department," the doctor explained morosely, shaking his head miserably "President Gato personally supervised the final assembly of the main unit. I was never told exactly what they armed BUNTA with." He looked up suddenly "However…I know it's currently outfitted with a Vulcan cannon, laser, and a rail gun."

"A rail gun?" Fox repeated, not liking the sound of that any more than he'd care to admit. While he'd been familiar with the other armaments the newest incarnation had been bequeathed, he'd never encountered anything in the military by that name, and disliked being surprised.

"It uses magnets to fire bullets at extremely high velocities." The doctor explained as simply as he could "The technology was originally developed for the SDI system and later scrapped. We were successful in miniaturizing it in a joint venture between ArmsTech and Kirigakure Labs. The rail gun is on BUNTA's right arm.

"You're sure you're not forgetting something?" Fox asked, looking at the shaken designer inquisitively "I mean, how're they supposed to launch a warhead?"

"Well…BUNTA IS outfitted with a missile module on his back that can carry up to eight missiles." Michiru noted with a frown "But are you saying it was originally meant to carry Mass Chakra missiles?"

"That's not all I think." Fox stated calmly "If Metal Gear fired only standard nuclear missiles, then they should already have all the practical data they need. Not that I'm complaining, but if that's the case, why haven't they fired yet?"

"Could it be…"Dr. Akimichi wondered offhandedly "BUNTA's co-developer, Kirigakure Labs, was working on a new type of MC weapon using supercomputers." He frowned "But, you can't use virtual data on a battlefield. They would need actual launch data."

Getting to his feet, the corpulent doctor gestured to the rows of computers lining the walls of his office. "These are some of the supercomputers we've been using. If you link these you can test everything in a virtual environment." He shrugged "But it's all just theoretical."

"So this exercise was designed to test the real thing." Fox noted with a grim scowl on his face "Meaning all the preliminary tests must have been good, shit."

"What did our president do?" the doctor asked aloud, sinking to his knees in worry "If the terrorists launch that thing...!" he starts pounding the floor pathetically "Dammit!! I'm such a fool! It's all my fault...me and the damn curse!"

"Curse?" Fox repeated, looking over at the man in confusion as he calmed down, sitting on the floor on his knees as he wiped his arm across his face.

"My grandfather was part of the Ame Project." The doctor explained, referring to Professor Nagato's infamous research "He suffered with the guilt for the rest of his life. And my father... was born on August 6, 1945."

"The day of the Uzumaki bomb." Fox noted with a grimace, shaking his head at the irony "Damn, God really screwed you guys over didn't he."

"Three generations of Akimichi men." Chouji muttered solemnly "We must have the curse of Mass Chakra weapons written into our DNA." He sighed, getting to his feet "I used to think I could use science to help mankind. But the one that wound up getting used was me." He scoffed derogatively "Using science to help mankind, that's just in the movies..."

--

Fox watched the man as he continued to mope about for a good minute, before slapping him upside the head sharply. "Alright, that's enough of the sentimental bullshit for one day." He muttered, glaring at the stunned doctor "Pull yourself together and tell me where the fuck on this Popsicle stand they're keeping Metal Gear."

"BUNTA is in the underground maintenance base." Chouji informed him, looking concerned " It's just North of the Communications Tower, but it's a long way there."

"Not gonna be a problem." Fox assured him "I'm used to sneaking around. But tell me, is the emergency override system for the detonation code there too?"

"It…should be in the maintenance base's Control Room." The Doctor informed him, looking around nervously "You better hurry. If those monsters were planning a launch from the start, then thier ballistic program is probably finished." He frowned grimly "And since they haven't called for me in a few hours, they must not need me. In other words, they must be ready to launch."

"Ino's got the detonation override keys with her." Fox assured the doctor "We'll link up with her and shut the thing down together."

"If we can't override the launch we'll have to destroy BUNTA." The scientist reminded the agent grimly, before getting to his feet with a wince "I'll show you the way."

"Not on that leg you wont." Fox muttered, putting a hand on the man's shoulder to stop him "Besides, you're like a walking billboard, you'll just slow me down."

"But you'll need me if you're gonna destroy BUNTA." Michiru insisted, looking at the man defiantly, his eyes burning with determination that, in Fox's opinion, cut a little TOO close for comfort.

"I don't need you, just your brain." Fox countered, fighting down the unwanted memories the man;s stare revived "Unless you don't mind becoming a human shield." He suggested jokingly.

"Erm…no thanks." The doctor countered nervously, the fire in his eyes going out sharpishly "But I created BUNTA. It's my right...my duty to destroy it."

"Admirable words," Fox allotted, "But if you get a chance, try to escape. When the coast is clear I'll try to contact you by Codec."

"And just how am I supposed to escape from an island?" the doctor asked, looking at the agent expectantly "And don't you dare suggest I swim it, only an idiot would try to swim in this weather."

'Ouch.' Fox muttered, wincing as he recalled his own entry to the mission "Alright fine, I want you to hide somewhere and keep me informed." He nodded at the man "You know this place well, don't you? Hole up somewhere safe and keep out of sight."

"Oh don't worry about that." The doctor assured him, smiling confidently for the first time as he reached for his shoulder "I've got this."

Fox blinked as the man vanished into thin air, looking around in alarm, catching a faint green tinge in the general outline of the man in front of him. "It's the same stealth technology that ninja friend of yours uses in his suit." The doctor's disembodied voice informed him "I managed to keep my other units out of ANBU-HOUND's clutches, so with this I'll be fine, bad leg and all."

"I have GOT to get me one of those." Fox noted with a hint of envy, before reaching for his codec "So you're covered, but just to be safe, I want Ino to watch after you too."

--140.95--

Fox: Ino, the engineer's okay.

Ino: That's a relief. With your luck I figured he'd be six feet under.

Fox: (Annoyed) Shut up. I want you to look after him. Where are you now?

Ino: (Coyly) Very close. (Flinches as someone shouts in the background.) Damn! They've spotted me!! (Screen goes fuzzy)

--End Transmission--

"Ino! Are you there? What happened!?" Fox demanded, gazing at the static on his codec before cursing "Shit, something's wrong."

"Did you hear something?" the doctor asked, looking around in apparent confusion "Wasn't there some kind of music in the background?"

"I'm going to find her," Fox muttered, prepping himself as he stood up "Last I saw her she was wearing the same uniform as the terrorists."

"If that's so…then how'll you find her?" Akimichi asked, looking at Fox in confusion, only to blink as the agent smirked at him in confidently.

"Don't you worry," he assured the good doctor "with the way she walks I'd recognize her a mile away." He smirked "That…and no matter what the paint job looks like, I'd know that caboose anywhere."

The doctor looked at Fox in confusion, before flushing in understanding, shaking himself with a cough "If she's disguised as the enemy, you'll have to contact her when she's alone." He reminded Fox "And there's only one place where we can be sure she's by herself."

"Where's that?" fox asked, only to blink as the doctor looked at him with a deadpan expression "Oh right…heh…never been there before."

Muttering something to himself, the doctor picked a card off the desk near his computer "Here, you can use my assistants' security card." He offered "It's security level 4."

Fox accepted the card graciously, before looking the large man over warily "You're not in pain, are you?" he asked, "Nothing bothering you?"

"Um no," the doctor replied uncertainly, looking at the blonde agent in confusion as he sighed in relief "Is...something the matter?"

"It's nothing…just a little nervous." Fox assured him "So far, everyone else I've saved suddenly dies of a heart attack, and you look like a prime contender."

"You're bad luck." The doctor muttered ominously, before frowning and shooting a glare at the man "And as for that crack about my weight-!"

"Forget it, Doctor." Fox muttered, silencing the man with his tone, reminding the larger man just WHO he was talking to "We need to focus on getting out of here."

"Alright." Chouji agreed, still looking annoyed, "But since I'll be in hiding, call me Otacon instead of Doctor." He grinned guiltily "It stands for Otaku Convention. I got into this field because of all the giant robot anime, not to make weapons.".

"Wouldn't giant robots count as weapons too?" Fox asked, seeing a flaw in the man's logic right away.

"You're right." Otacon agreed, slumping slightly "Science has always thrived on war, the greatest weapons of mass destruction were created by scientists who wanted to be famous." He frowned "But that's all over now. I won't take part in murder anymore."

"Sounds good to me," Fox agreed, though he'd heard it far too many times in the past "Just so long as you give me the information I need to get the job done."

"Sure. I know everything about this base or BUNTA." The doctor agreed "Also, with this stealth camouflage, I can sneak in and out of the armory and mess hall. If you need ammo or rations, just tell me and I'll bring them to you. I'm on frequency 141.12." he smiled as he reached for his shoulder "See ya later."

--

Fox didn't even flinch as the large man vanished, following the faint green outline as it walked past him, disappearing altogether as it got further away, the door sliding open to let it pass. Waiting a few minutes to ensure that the man had gotten clear, he moved out into the hallway, his SOCOM at the ready as he inched his way down the bloodstained corridor, pilfering any spare rounds of ammunition and grenades from the corpses, noting the doctor's footprints and what must have been Grey Hound's decorating the hallway.

'What's the point of stealth if you give yourself away like this?' he muttered, hoping the fat man was okay, knowing Hound would be fine without question. He hadn't received the designation 'Hound' for nothing after all. He was the only one to score a perfect on every possible test thrown at him, and save for the Outer Heaven and Zanzibar missions, he'd never been defeated, or caught off guard.

'Hell of a time to be reminiscing.' Fox muttered coldly, stepping out of the corridor and slipping on his gas mask as he approached the gas filled corridor 'Let's just find the Colonel's brat before she gets herself whacked.'

His attempts at scouring the cubicles for supplies turned up naught save a packet of toxic rations, which he highly doubted would do any good but pocketed them anyways, for all he knew he could leave them out for one of the terrorists and they'd keel over without him lifting a finger.

He made his way to the elevator without much ado, hitting the button for the next floor up, reloading his SOCOM as he leant against the wall. He briefly considered leaving the NIKITA behind, only to blink as he regarded his suit carefully. 'Worth a shot.' He muttered, lifting the FAMAS from his back and placing it near the opening of one of the pockets, nearly letting out a yelp as the weapon vanished.

'Right…so it can handle rifles…' he noted, turning his attention to the NIKITA 'It's a stretch…but she DID say it was limited to stuff I can carry.'

Picking up the weapon carefully, Fox held it close to his jacket, counting under his breath as he did, the elevator coming to an abrupt vault even as the weapon vanished from his hands, the codec kicking up.

--140.96--

Tenten: (Concern) Fox, your jacket's nano-machines just reported a minor strain on their systems! Did something happen?

Fox: (Grinning like, well, a fox) Yeah, your suit just bought you the best night of your life the minute this mission is over.

Tenten: (Pleased) Really? Guess that means the S3 prototype outdid your expectations.

Fox: It just stored NIKITA, which normally would have slowed me down and made me a clear target to anyone with a brain. (Smirks) I think it's overshot my expectations by a whole freaking state. I only hope it's creator performs as well.

Tenten: (Flustered) um…I have to document this…talk to you later!

--End Transmission--

"Right, plans for the evening out of the way, time to look for the prissy princess." Fox noted, sneaking into the hallway, avoiding the all-seeing lens of the camera near the elevator as he peered into the room, espying several guards walking about carefully. "Must be on the look-out," he noted, taking in the way they were gripping their weapons securely "they seem to be a lot more alert than last time."

He blinked as one of the men broke off, backside jiggling from side to side as he left the room. Fox ducked around the corner, watching as the guard jiggled towards the ladies bathroom "Alone time huh? Not likely." he muttered, sneaking towards the door and pushing it open warily, only to blink as he found the place deserted "What the hell?" he wondered, making his way to the last stall, only to find a discarded uniform lying before him.

"Freeze!" a voice ordered, the business end of a rifle pressing against his back, only for a chuckle to sound behind him "That's the second time I've been able to sneak up on the legendary Solid Fox."

"And if I didn't already know you were the only person here you'd be dead by now, Ino." Fox retorted, not without a trace of humor, as he turned to address the woman, noting with some amusement that he'd caught her with her pants down, literally. "Bear Panties?" he teased "There's no way you could pass for a man for long."

"What do my panties have to do with anything?!" Ino snapped, wincing as she lowered her voice "And what about you? Men aren't allowed in here!"

"Should've thought of that before using it." Fox shot back "I know it's private, but if a guard sees you going in here he'll get suspicious." He smirked "Besides, if I hadn't come I'd be missing out on quite a view."

"Quit trying to hit on me with my pants down perv." Ino shot back, not without a flush on her cheeks "Besides, you're wasting your time. When I joined up they gave me psychotherapy to destroy my interest in men."

"So you're a dyke?" Fox shot back, smirking as she flushed magenta "I'm kidding Ino, calm down." He looked her over "Are you hurt?"

"Just my pride." The blonde noted grimly, lowering her weapon with a tired sigh "I was disguised as a Genome Soldier, so they didn't find me."

"So why'd you change?" Fox asked, nodding towards the discarded uniform "You'd be better off dressed like one of them, unless you bump into that ninja that's been running around."

"That's one of the reasons I was so eager to stop disguising myself." Ino agreed with a shiver "But the truth is... the uniform smelled like blood."

Fox said nothing, noting the slump of the woman's shoulders with trepidation, before spying a familiar tattoo on her shoulder, the ANBU-HOUND insignia. "Huh? Oh, this?" Ino noted, following the man's gaze with a slight flush "It's a paint tattoo…they wouldn't allow real ones in the military." She smiled, running her fingers along the mark "I was a real fan of ANBU-HOUND way back. When guys like you and my father were in it." she scowled derisively "None of that gene therapy bullshit like there is today. You guys were real heroes."

"There are no heroes in war." Fox countered with more calm than he felt "All the heroes I know are either dead... or in prison; One or the other."

"But…" Ino began, looking at the agent in confusion "You're a hero, aren't you Fox? All the things you've done…the people you saved-!"

"I'm just a skilled killer." Fox muttered, looking tired with each word "There's no winning or losing for a mercenary. The only winners in war are the people."

"And you fight FOR the people." Ino insisted, looking at the man in a way that made him feel uncomfortable, like he was before a press conference.

"I've never fought for anyone but myself." he countered, looking away from those insistent blue eyes "I've got no purpose in life. No ultimate goal." He frowned, looking into the distance as the sound of gunfire rose from his memory, a wry smirk on his face "Heh...your old man was right, I only really fell alive when people are trying to kill me."

Ino flinched, looking way from the man nervously "So seeing other people die makes you feel alive, huh?" she asked, sounding uncomfortable as she held her arm, a nervous smirk on her lips "I've heard of some pretty messed up fetishes but that takes the whole freaking cake." She looked up as he snorted "Is it the same with all great soldiers?"

"Why didn't you contact me?" Fox asked, desperate to change the subject to something he found more comfortable, not liking innuendo if HE wasn't the one dishing it out.

"My Codec was broken." Ino admitted, looking honestly relieved at having the subject changed, but still looking embarrased despite herself.

"How in the hell did you manage that?" Fox demanded, looking dumbfounded "You sure you didn't try going solo? The last thing I need is another alarm going off, making it hard to move around."

"Shouldn't you just be happy that we met up like this!?" Ino snapped, looking at the man in annoyance, "And how in the heck did you recognize me anyways, my disguise was foolproof!"

"I never forget a lady." Fox replied coyly, leering at her slightly until she blushed and looked away "Especially one with a butt as cute as yours."

"First it's my eyes, now it's my butt." Ino muttered, looking flustered as she crossed her arms and leant on the sinks "You really are a pervert you know that?" she frowned at his smirked "So... how are the negotiations doing?"

"To put it bluntly? We're up shit creek without a raft." Fox replied derisively, leaning against the restroom wall with his arms crossed "Either the pentagon's made no progress at all, or they're most likely waiting for me to kill everyone so they don't have to."

"Figures..." Ino noted darkly, looking at the agent with something akin to empathy in her normally guarded gaze. "So, it's all up to you, huh?"

"Somebody's got to prevent these yahoos from launching a missile." Fox reasoned, quite used to being given the short end of the stick "So I hope you've got some ideas."

--

"There are two ways we can go about this." Ino reasoned calmly, after several minutes of silent contemplation "Either we outright destroy Metal Gear, which could bring the whole place down around us, or we override the detonation code."

"That's right!" Fox recalled suddenly, pushing away from the wall to look at the Colonel's daughter "Gato said he gave you the card keys before he croaked."

"Card keys?" Ino repeated, looking confused as she reached into her vest, pulling out a single rectangular card, thicker than the keys Fox had about his person "You mean this?"

"That's it?" Fox asked, looking confused "Where are the others? There should be three of them!" he growled as Ino shook her head "Ah hell…you mean we gotta look for the other two in this place? Do you have any idea where they could be?"

"Not a clue." Ino replied grimly "But they must be around here somewhere, Gato didn't have much time before he got caught." She looked at Fox grimly "If we can't find them we'll have no choice but to destroy Metal Gear ourselves."

"Wouldn't be the first time." Fox muttered, shaking himself with a grunt "Anyways, the doctor told me that Metal Gear is at the underground maintenance base to the north, so I'm heading there."

"Take me too." Ino insisted, stepping forwards quickly as the agent turned away, her eyes determined "I know this place better than you do."

"Thanks for the offer, but you'll just slow me down." Fox replied, looking her over carefully "You don't have enough battle experience, and the Colonel wants you back in one piece."

"Don't you worry about my father." Ino countered, grim determination in her features giving her an eerie resemblance to the Colonel "And I won't slow you down. I promise."

"What if you do?" Fox asked rhetorically, blinking as the woman smirked coyly at him, hands on her hips as she got right up in his face.

"Then you can shoot me." Ino shot back, looking Fox in the eyes as he looked away, a smug look on her face, knowing she'd won a small victory.

"I don't like to waste bullets." Fox shot back, looking grim yet impressed at the same time, a smirk on his face "And besides, one of the reasons I'm here is to bring you back, alive."

"Got it. I'll be careful." Ino assured him, knowing first hand what a worrywart her father could be. He'd thrown a fit when she'd enlisted after all. "Y'know, I always dreamed of becoming a soldier." She noted, holding her arm "But it wasn't really my dream. My mother was killed in action when I was younger…my father never got over it."

"You're following in your parents' footsteps?" Fox asked, looking the girl over intriguingly. It didn't seem to fit, some bright-eyed brat joining up to make mama proud...not THIS one anyways.

"Not really." Ino admitted calmly, looking away "It's just…I thought that if I became a soldier I could understand them better. Understand why they fought so hard."

"So are you a soldier yet?" Fox asked, gesturing to the smooth walls of the ladies room with mock-flair "Do you feel you understand our world now?"

"I thought I was until today." Ino noted grimly "But...now I understand. The truth is I was just afraid of having to make my own decisions in life." She gripped her arm tightly "But I'm not going to lie to myself any more. It's time I took a long, hard look at myself...I want to know who I am, what I'm capable of. I want to know why I've lived the way I've lived until now." she looked Fox in the eyes, "I want to know."

--

'Hell of a time to develop an identity crisis.' Fox muttered, looking the uncertain rookie over carefully. He'd seen the result of such things on the battlefield; some soldiers just completely forgot what the hell they were doing or who they were. Others tried to repress the memories, hardly a healthy lifestyle, and not one he was willing to submit Ino to.

Ino looked up, flinching as Fox drew his SOCOM, looking at him in confusion as he loaded a clip into it and held the weapon up for her to see. "Take a good look." he instructed, looking the rookie in the eyes sternly "You won't get another chance for a while." He nodded to the basin and stalls "You should wash your face and take a leak while you're at it. This isn't a training exercise, our lives are riding on this." He held her gaze securely "There are no heroes or heroines here," he reminded her "This isn't some VR simulation, if you lose, you're worm food."

Ino nodded her consent and walked over to the basin to wash up, Fox waiting for her to finish rinsing off before nodding to her FAMAS leaning against the wall "That thing still work?"

"It's out of ammo." Ino replied, flushing slightly as she recalled the incident in the cells, before smirking as she drew a handgun from her belt "But it's alright, I got this."

"A Desert Eagle?" Fox noted in approval, a little envious with the woman's find, and with good reason "Where'd you find that monster?"

"In the armory." Ino replied, checking the .50 caliber weapon over expertly as she talked "It's custom, someone must've ordered it before the coup. There was a SOCOM pistol too, but I chose this."

"So I got stuck with the leftover, huh?" Fox noted with wry humor "Isn't that gun a little big for a girl?" He held out his own gun "C'mon, trade ya?"

"Sorry slick, first come first served." Ino replied, smirking at the pouting agent smugly "And don't worry, I've used a gun like this since I was 8 years old. I'm more comfortable with it than I am with a bra."

"I can see that." Fox noted, watching as she pulled a clip of ammunition from her vest and loaded the pistol "Still, I have some spare rounds for the FAMAS, take it with you just in case."

Meryl nodded and holstered her handgun, taking the offered clips and reloading the semi-auto as she spoke "If we're going to go to the north, we'll have to go through the Commander's Room on this floor." She instructed "The overland route is blocked by glaciers, so it's the only possible route." She reached into her pocket, handing Fox a keycard "The door to the commander's room is security level five, but this card will open it." she shrugged at his inquiring look "It was inside the pocket of the uniform I was wearing."

"So Mr. flatulence must've been guarding something important." Fox noted, smirking at Ino coyly "Other than you I mean."

"Yeah, yeah let's go." Ino muttered, trying not to look flattered as she moved towards the door "I know this place better than you so I'll be point man. Follow me and watch my back."

"Don't even need to be told." Fox replied, leering at Ino's backside as she wiggled towards the door, only to pull up short the second she stepped outside.

"That's strange." Ino noted, eyeing the suddenly deserted corridor suspiciously "Where'd all the guards go?"

"And that weird music's gone." Fox noted, eyeing the corridor with equal, if not greater trepidation, his SOCOM at the ready as he eyed the other end "Not that I'm complaining, damn tune was making my head hurt."

"I don't like this." Ino muttered, sweeping the corridor with her FAMAS as she looked around "I'll keep a look out. Make sure you're ready."

--

And so they venture deeper into the maze...

Naruto: Finally! It feels so good to be moving towards the plot!

Ino: Tell me about it! That outfit was making me sweat like hell!

Naruto: Yeah, you look much better like that.

Ino: (Blushes) R-Really?

Ten-Ten: Hey Naruto!

Naruto: (Blinking) Yeah?

Tenten: You know...about that date...

Naruto and Ino: Eh?

Tenten: (Smirking coyly) I don;t mind..Sharing...

Ino: (Blushes)...!

Naruto: Eh? (blinks as both girls grab his arms) Wha-What the-?!

Kyugan: Remember ladies! Back in trailers thirty minutes before roll call!

Random Underling: Also, Kyugan-sensei apologizes, but we couldn't find a way to work the Cardboard Box into the script ina way that would be believable. (Bows) But believe us! Carboard-sama WILL be making an appearance in this Fic...BELIEVE IT!

STOMP! SQUEAL! SQUISHING NOISE!

Kyugan: (Eyes the pile of blood that was Random underling no.1, before giving a thumbs up to 'Liquid', who is piloting BUNTA) Good work.

R&R, lest you get squished too!

* * *


	7. Chapter 7

And so another file is uploaded.

Before we get this started, lemme just come right out and say that I am NOT ripping off Lord Quadros' 'The Abridged Snakes' series on Youtube.

Anyone could crack a joke at 'Deepthroat', the possibilities for fun are endless. And I'm sure I'm not the only one that's seen Raven's fights with Snake parodied somewhere, 's last days of foxhound webcomic for example.

That said, let the fun begin.

File 7: Psycho and Psy-chic's

It was with a guarded air that the two proceeded, sweeping the corridor and offices thoroughly whilst keeping an eye out for hidden guards and cameras. It just didn't sit right with either of them, the whole area had been crawling with soldiers not ten minutes ago, and now it was like a cemetary at night. The absence of the bizarre tune that had unconciously been in the background didn't help any, if anything it made the silence all the more unsettling.

'Like I'm in a Japanese horror movie.' Fox muttered, recalling seeing the original grudge whilst undergoing basic training, shivering as they neared the commander's office 'Those guys are seriously messed up.' He muttered, reffering to the seniors that had drumrolled him and a few other potentials into watching the thing, before attemtping to scare the bejeezus out of them over the next month. He snapped back to reality as Ino stumbled to her knees, holding her head and moaning "Ino? What's wrong?"

"Don't come here, Fox!" the blonde warned, sounding oddly pained as she waved him back, her teeth grit and sweat dripping down her forehead, only to fall silent and stand up calmly.

"You okay?" Fox asked, looking around the corridor concernedly for snipers, or worse, a gas vent. Gunmen the two fo them could handle, but he only had one gasmask "What happened?"

"I'm fine." Ino replied, sounding strangely emotionless as she did so, like a robot imitating human speech, even as she made her way to the office door "C'mon foxy" She called out teasingly, though her weird tone ruined it somewhat "The commander's waiting."

Fox didn't like the looks of this at all and readied his SOCOM with a scowl. Ino was acting weird…hell, the whole base was officially up bat-shit creek without a paddle for all he knew, and he wasn't about to take any chances as he followed the woman into the room, noting that her walk had changed slightly as well, the tantalizing jiggle replaced with a stiff soldier's walk.

The second they entered the commander's office the heavy oak door slammed shut, the locking mechanism shutting even as Fox whirled round, checking the handle angrily, only to freeze at the sound of a hammer cocking behind him. He turned, hackles on the back of his neck rising ominously as he saw Ino aiming her handgun at his face, the safety undeniably OFF.

"Fox..." the colonel's daughter purred, walking towards him slowly, the weapon trained on his face the whole time as she sashayed towards him like something out of a Bond movie "do you like me?"

"What the hell?!" Fox gaped, pointing his gun at her in confusion, though aimed at her legs, he was supposed to be rescuing her after all "The hell're you thinking?! Point that thing somewhere else right now! you freakin' rookie"

"Do you like me?" Ino persisted, her head tilting from side to side like a drunken puppet as she advanced on the agent like a drunken cat in heat "Hold me, Fox…"

"What's wrong with you?!" Fox demanded, continuing to aim the SOCOM at her, hoping to ward her off, backing up slightly out of concern, only to curse as he backed into the doors.

"Fox…I need you…" Ino called out, a second voice echoing alongside hers, Fox's sharp eyes catching a green outline just behind her, like a distorted hologram "Hurry…Make love to me…Fox, I want you!"

"What the-?! Who the hell are you?!" Fox snapped, whipping round to aim his SOCOM at the figure behind Ino, teeth clenched as the invisible head titled, Ino mimicking his actions with a perverse leer on her face.

"What's wrong?" the figure taunted, Meryl echoing his words with eerie symatry, her head tilting to the other side as she continued to leer at the agent "You don't like girls tough guy?"

_"Fox, Meryl's not herself!"_ Yamanaka's hysterical voice called out over the codec, Fox wincing at the volume in the man's voice but keeping his sights on the freak all the time _"For the love of God, don't use your weapon!"_

_"That's Psycho Sasori."_ Shizune informed him, he voice far to calm for Fox's liking, given the current situation _"The interference from earlier vanished when you claimed the music stopped. He must have been using the tune to track and control Ino!"_

"Real bunch of freaks joined after I left." Fox growled, before rushing towards the duo, ducking under Ino's gun as she tried to get him in her sights. Shooting out a hand to prevent her from ccatching him up close, Fox brought his SOCOM up and pistol whipped the woman, ignoring the Colonel's indignant squawks as he lowered her to the ground, switching the CODEC off before glaring up at the patch of air that held the outline of his next opponent.

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"Hmmph…what a useless woman!" Sasori's disembodied voice muttered, his form nothing more than a distorted outline hovering in mid-air "A waste of valuable energy."

"Optic camouflage, huh?" Fox noted coldly, a little impressed at how quickly he was begining to recognize the stuff "I hope that's not your only trick, I'm getting used to spotting people with it."

"Kisama…" Sasori growled, sounding annoyed "You doubt my power?" he watched as Fox ignored him in favor of checking the comatose Ino for injuries other than the slight bruising from the SOCOM "Well then, perhaps a demonstration is in order." He noted "I will show you why I am the most powerful practitioner of psychokinesis and telepathy in the world."

With that, the camouflage deactivated, revealing Sasori in all his leather bound glory as he hovered in mid-air above the desk. "No need for words, Solid Fox." He assured the agent mockingly as Fox backtracked in alarm "I am Psycho Sasori, and this is no parlor trick. It is true power." He scoffed as the agent whipped out his SOCOM and aimed it at him "Muda-da. I can read your every thought…the second you pull the trigger I'll have already moved." He raised his arms "Now...let me read your mind. No...Perhaps I should say your past."

Fox blinked as several lights flashed behind his eyes, a feeling like a sudden weight settling on his skull as he fought to keep the gun trained on Sasori. Without his willing it, he began to recall every detail of th mission, from the moment he landed on Shadow Moses' subterrainian dock, to now.

"You are a highly skilled warrior, well suited for a stealth mission of this caliber." Sasori noted calmly, images flashing before him like multiple television screens "You are extremely careful of traps," he noted with amusement, eyeing the near mishap in the armory "and judging by the way you avoid open conflict I am convinced you are either very cautious…or a coward."

"I dare you to say that to my face..." Fox growled, pointing his gun at the man in mid-air stubbornly "And get the fuck out of my head you bastard! Before I start charging rent!"

"You still don't believe me?" Sasori deduced with a hint of disapproval "Perhaps a little trip down memory lane will help?" he gestured again and Fox felt the pressure behind his eyeballs increase, gritting his teeth as his heart's pounding echoed in his ears, only to blink as it came to an abrupt stop.

"Hmmm? Your memories...I can't access them." Sasori noted in confusion, his telepathy laced with annoyance and intrigue "A shame, I did so look forward to seeing the TRUE tale of Outer Heaven and Zanzibar."

"I charge per the minute freak show." Fox shot back with a growl, pointing the SOCOM at the man's face "And I'll take it out of your hide if you don't get the fuck out of my head!"

"You STILL don't believe me?" Sasori growled in annoyance, waving his hand sharply, the SOCOM flying out of Fox's hands to clatter against the far wall "What do you think now Solid Fox? Can you feel my power now?"

"The only thing I feel for you is disgust." Fox shot back mockingly, drawing his combat knife and getting into a ready stance "For a guy that runs around in bondage gear you talk pretty tough, but I'll bet you were watching the security cameras the whole time to get my info."

"SILENCE!" Sasori snarled, hovering in mid-air as he released a burst of flames around him "The demonstration is over! Prepare to die, Solid Fox!"

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Fox cursed as the psychotic gimp hurled a fireball at him, the contents of the commander's office whirling around the room over his head, threatening to smash him to a pulp if he stood up for a second. He yelped as a letter opener stabbed between his legs, embedding itself up to the hilt in the floor, missing his groin by scant millimeters. Rolling out of the way he drew his FAMAS and opened fire, cursing as the jackass weaved out of the way each time, laughing mockingly.

'Least he's focusing on me.' Fox muttered, looking briefly at Ino, lying on the floor directly beneath the psychic 'Just need to find a way to take him down without using anything that might hurt her.'

"So you're worried about the woman are you?" Sasori scoffed, halting his barrage of furniture and making a gesture with one hand, Ino rising to her feet like a puppet. "Pitiful, such an easily exploited weakness!" the psychic mocked, gesturing again, fox watching in alarm as Ino began to lift her Desert Eagle stiffly.

"Good girl…" Sasori mocked, his tone derrisive, as if talking to an infant "Now stand right where he can see you..." he pointed at his own skull, thumb cokced back like a hammer "and blow your brains out!!!"

Ino gasped, her hand and arm moving of their own accord despite her commands to the contrary, looking desperately at Fox as the barrel of the gun was pressed against her skull, her eyes widening in terror as the hammer cocked back ominously

Fox leapt from cover without a moment's hesitation, his hand lashing out and grabbing the gun, tilting it away from Ino's head just as she pulled the trigger. The 45-calibre round exploded from the firearm, catching Sasori on the shoulder en route to the wall, drawing a howl of outrage from the man.

"How dare you?!" the psychic howled, levitating backwards out of range of retaliation before gathering fireballs to hurl at them in his ire "I'll cremate you for that!"

"Cremate this!" Fox shot back, pushing Ino aside and taking her weapon to prevent a repeat of the psychic's actions as he rolled out of the path of a fireball, firing at the wall with his SOCOM as he kept moving.

"You think you're safe just because you disarmed her?" Scorpion scoffed, weaving around the bullets like a fly "Fool! This whole room is my weapon! And in a moment, it shall be your tomb!"

Fox cursed as a chair hurtled towards him, a book catching him on the elbow as he dove to avoid the oncoming furniture. He was getting sick of being on the defensive with this guy, but didn't have much choice, as every movement he'd made was broadcast straight into the fucker's mind.

'Just how the hell am I supposed to fight a guy that reads my thoughts?!' the agent growled, only to blink, a smirk crossing his features as he rolled out of view.

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'Hiding are we?' Sasori scoffed, levitating above the desk again 'Pointless, I can find you easily.'

He focused, noting the terrified thoughts of the woman as he sought out his elusive prey. He had to admit he was impressed, not even the boss had lasted this long against him without taking damage. But then again, he and the boss had never truly fought before.

'So, a direct assault with the FAMAS?' he noted, smirking as the agents intention entered his thoughts 'Such a blunt tactic, I expected better from the man with the same codename as the boss.'

He readied himself for the barrage, not even blinking as a book was hurled at him, ignoring the distraction as Solid Fox rolled out from behind the upturned table, aiming at him with the semi-automatic weapon.

"Useless." He scoffed, weaving out of the path of the bullets, "I told you, I can predict everything you-!"

He balked as an explosion rocked the room behind him, stumbling in mid-air as he fought to right himself. 'The book exploded?!' he stammered, eyes wide behind his ever-present mask 'How did that-?!' he shook himself, preparing to dodge the incoming bullets only to balk once again as Fox hurled the FAMAS at his face, snapping his head back and almost knocking him out of the air.

'He THREW his weapon at me?!' Sasori thought wonderingly, holding the offending rifle in confusion, only to blink as he caught site of something attached to the magazine. Eyes widening in fear, he made to hurl the weapon away, just as the C4 detonated, taking the magazine with it.

Sasori screamed as his torso was ruptured by the shrapnel, his left hand blown apart in the immediate explosion, the right spared simply because it was shielded by his body. He spiraled backwards through the air, crashing into a bookcase before falling in a broken heap behind the commander's desk, panting for breath.

'Such an…unpredictable man…' the defeated Psychic gasped in alarm, a sense of wonderment filling him to the core 'I see now…why the boss…holds so much…hate for him…'

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Fox gasped for breath, walking over and eyeing the downed psychic, checking on the recovering blonde before reaching for his codec.

--------------------------------------------------140.85-------------------------------------------------

Fox: Colonel, it's me. (Winces as the man starts yelling) Calm the fuck down old man, Ino's going to be okay.

Yamanaka: (Sighs in relief) Thanks Fox…I owe you one.

Fox: (Smirking) you owe me a helluva lot more than that you old fart. (snorts) Anyways, Gimpy McBondage's brainwashing should wear off soon, right Shizune?

Shizune: (Flushing) Erm, Yes. (Looks confused) But Fox, why did you go so far out of your way to save her? For Yamanaka's sake...or because you like her?

Fox: (scowls) I'm not the kind of trash that gets off on watching a woman die right in front of me.

Shizune: (Raises an eyebrow) Oh really? Since when did anybody's death bother you so much?

Yamanaka: (Disapprovingly) Shizune! It's true that Fox has killed a lot of people, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have a heart.

Fox: (Looking tired) It's okay, Colonel…(Regards Shizune solemnly)...she's right.

---------------------------------------------End Transmission-----------------------------------------

'Shizune seems to be acting a little weird.' Fox muttered, wondering what had crawled up the medic's shapely butt as he got to his feet, walking over to Sasori, scooping up his SOCOM on the way.

"So... unpredictable…" the dying psychic managed to gasp out as he looked up at his killer reverently "It would appear...that I wasn't able to read the future..."

"A strong man doesn't need to read the future." Fox countered, looking solemn as he knelt next to the man "He gets off his ass and makes his own damn choices."

"Perhaps so... " Sasori allotted, Ino getting off the floor unsteadily as he spoke "But I will also read your future...To get to Metal Gear's underground maintenance base... you have to go through that hidden door…behind the bookcase." He coughed as he gestured with his good hand to the one he'd crashed into "Go past the communications towers…Then use the tower's walkway…"

"Why are you telling me this?" Fox demanded, a little unnerved by how cooperative the dying man was being. If it'd been him in this position, he'd have given his killer the finger, before blowing them both to hell with a grenade.

"I can read people's minds." Sasori replied gaspingly "In my lifetime…I have read the pasts, presents, and futures of thousands upon thousands of men and women."

Concerned that the man would croak before he finished, Fox reached over and removed the mask, fighting down the urge to gape at the sight of the man's face, even as Ino covered her mouth. It didn't stop him from gazing in horrified fascination at the deceptively young, almost childish features of the dying psychic, their innocence tainted by the cold, haunting eyes with which he viewed thwe world.

"Each mind that I peered into was stuffed with the same single object of obsession." Sasori continued, sounding utterly revolted "That selfish and atavistic desire to pass on one's seed... it was enough to make me sick." He coughed weakly, blood staining his lips "Every living thing on this planet exists to mindlessly pass on their DNA. We're designed that way…And that's why there is war."

He gazed up at Fox, a type of wonderment in those cold, terrifying eyes "But you... you are different..." the psychic insisted "You're the same as us…no past, no future…We live in the moment…our only purpose is to keep on living."

Fox blinked as the psychic coughed again, supporting the man's head to ensure the airways were clear as he continued with his speech.

"Humans…" Sasori scoffed bitterly "were never intended to bring each other happiness. From the moment we're thrown into this world… we're fated to bring each other nothing but pain and misery." He nodded ominously, a cold smirk lining his features "The first person whose mind I dove into…was my grandmother's. I saw nothing but disgust and hatred for me in her heart. My parents had been killed in the war you see...and she despised me simply because I reminded her of them." he scoffed "I thought the old bessom was going to kill me… when I came to, the village was engulfed in flames..."

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"I've heard of burning your bridges but that takes the whole damn cake." Fox muttered, looking over the man in alarm as wrinkles began to form on that youthful face. Slowly at first, but then at an accerated rate, Sasori began to age rapidly, going from late teen to early thirties in a matter of seconds.

"You have suffered the same trauma." Sasori noted, laughing feebly as his red hair lost it's luster "We are truly the same, you and I... The world is a more interesting place with people like you in it..." he coughed again, this time the rattling cogh of an old man, before looking up at the ceiling calmly, his eyes slowly filming over "I never agreed with the Boss's revolution." He admitted "His dreams of world conquest…do not interest me. I just wanted an excuse…to kill as many people as I could…"

"You monster!" Ino snapped, leveling her Desert Eagle at the aged man's head, only to blink in confusion as Fox held up a hand, warding her off "Fox?"

"Let him talk." Fox insisted, looking down at the dying man with a type of empathy on his face "Either way, he doesn't have much time left anyways."

"I've seen true evil." Sasori noted, as if Ino's threat meant nothing at all "You Fox...are just like the boss..." he chuckled "No, you're worse…compared to you, I'm not so bad." He nodded at Ino "I read her mind as well…I saw you there...you have a large place in her heart."

Ino flushed, looking away from Fox as he looked up at her carefully, refusing to meet his gaze. "A large place?" Fox repeated, not looking away from the woman as he spoke, Ino's flush deepening.

"Yes." Sasori agreed "But I do not know if your futures lie together." He convulsed, coughing violently before calming down "I have…a last request…" he pleaded, good hand patting aimlessly at his side "My mask... put it back on."

Fox blinked, looking at the man in confusion, before reaching for the mask and holding it slowly over Sasori's face as the dying psychic continued to talk.

"Like this... other people's thoughts force their way into my mind." The psychic explained "Before I die... I want to be by myself. I want to be left alone in my own world." He sighed in relief as the mask was put in place, seeming to relax slightly, before raising his good hand weakly "I'll open the door for you." He whispered, snapping his fingers, the bookshelf blocking the hidden doorway moving out of the way as if on wheels "Your future lies beyond that door." He instructed, lying back with a sigh "This is the first time I've ever used my power to help someone." He noted, sounding oddly happy "It's strange... it feels...kind of...nice."

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Fox continued to kneel beside the corpse even after the head rolled to the side and the chest fell silent. He regarded the still form of the master psychic grimly, before getting to his feet, checking his SOCOM for damage before turning to Ino "Let's go."

"I'm sorry..." Ino offered, looking away in embarrassment, gripping her arms tightly as if to ward off the memories "How could I let Sasori control my mind like that..."

"If you're going to have another emo-fit I'm leaving you here." Fox warned her, not in the mood to play the shrink again. "Never doubt yourself. Just make sure you learn something from this and grow stronger."

"You're right." Ino agreed, looking away "I'm sorry. I won't do it again." She watched as he scooped up her FAMAS, checkingthe weapon over for damage "Fox...can I ask you something?" she asked, looking at him shyly "About what Sasori said... I was just wondering...What's your name? Your real name?"

"Getting kinda personal aren't you?" Fox asked with a grunt, checking the slide and magazine like a hawk "Besides, names mean nothing on the battlefield."

"How old are you?" Ino asked, stepping forwards as he swapped the magazine with one that was full, trying to come to her own conclusion as she took in his features.

"Old enough to be legal." the agent joked, smirking at her flush "Old enough to know death on sight." He added as he checked the old magazine "Trust me, it ain't pretty," he shrugged "but you get used to it after a while…Kinda like report cards."

"Any family?" Ino asked, looking at him with concern in her blue eyes, the agent pausing briefly in his ministrations, before shrugging off-handedly.

"Afraid I strike out in that area." He admitted with a wry smirk "But I've become what I am thanks to a lot of people so I can't really complain…but I do keep a team of huskies."

"Is there…anyone you like?" Ino asked, actually flushing despite herself as she looked the man over carefully "You know...someone really special?

"I've never really been interested in anyone else's life..." Fox admitted, smirking at her coyly "I've always been more of a one-night-stand kinda guy."

"So you are all alone." Ino noted, lFox looking up at her in surprise to find er gazing at him sadly. He flinched, before turning his head to the side with a scoof.

"Having other people in my life just complicates things." the agent muttered defensively "I don't like to get involved." He blinked as a pair of arms wrapped around him from behind, looking back at Ino in shock, before calming down and patting her arm gratefully "C'mon, we need to go."

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They passed through the secret doorway, leaving the wrecked, silent office turned tomb with it's sole occupant behind, silent testimony to the battle of wills that had gone on within. "I'll take point again." Ino stated, walking ahead of him with her Desert Eagle at the ready "Follow me, and watch your step."

Fox nodded, slipping into what appeared to be a barely lit cave, trying to keep up with Meryl in the gloom, only to freeze as a low growl filled the air. He cursed as a fanged beast leapt at him, worrying at his arm until he smacked it on the snout, kicking it in the ribs to drive it off, only for more of the beasts to show up.

"SUNNUVABITCH!" he growled, striking out with his feet, refusing to open fire on the canines in case he drew the guards, dropping a smoke grenade right in their midst before ducking around a corner as it went off, the yelping of the beasts filling the air as he looked for a place to hide.

Realising he had scant seconds before the beasties were at him again, Fox sped down the corridor, spying what had to be the exit on the other side and making a dash towards it, only to pull up short as he caught sight of a grinning Ino.

"What's wrong, Fox?" the blonde asked, looking over at him coyly as she continued to pet one of the oversized mosters he'd just left choking on smoke "I thought you were good with dogs?"

"Dogs and wolves are two different animals." Fox growled, grimacing as one of the animal's young walked over to him, cursing as it took a piss near his foot "SUNNUVABITCH!"

Ino chuckled as he chased the pup around, threatening to neuter it with a grenade for the offence, only for the rest of the pack to turn up, looking annoyed. Fox froze and readied himself to run, only to blink as the apparent leader shuffled up, sniffing at his leg before letting out an odd, crooning note of approval and rubbing against him.

"Guess they marked you as their property." Ino chuckled, watching as Fox was beset by the affectionate pack, who proceeded to familiarize him with their scent, licking at him as he reached down to scratch their ears.

"Whatever." Fox muttered, a grudging smile on his face that steadily grew more relaxed as he petted the animals, noting they appeared to be a crossbreed of wolves and dogs, rather than purebred wolves like he'd first thought.

"Hey, you smiled." Ino noted, a look of approval on her face, her hand on her hip "You should do it more often, it suits you better than that scowl you're always wearing."

"Think so huh?" Fox noted, wincing as an overly affectionate canine licked his face, leaving spit on his eye "I can't help it, dogs are one of the few things I actually like."

"I can tell." Ino noted, leaning in close and drawing some of them away from him "Your face lights up and your guard drops…you look younger whenever you're with them."

"You calling me old?" Fox growled playfully, earning a giggle from the woman as they patted the pack one last time before leaving them to their own devices and continuing on their way, stepping into an underground passage that most certainly had to have been added on as part of the facility.

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"Looks like the way is clear." Fox noted stepping forward cautiously, before wincing as his radar vanished in a burst of static "Crap, the area's being jammed."

"Hold up, Fox," Ino warned, placing a restraining hand on his shoulder to keep him from pressing onwards, a frown on her face "This place is mined."

"An indoor minefield?" Fox muttered sourly, shaking his head in disbelief "Why not, they've thrown everything else at us." He grimaced "And my radar isn't working...so I can't use the mine detector either...terrific."

"Leave it to me..." Ino assured him, and then walked calmly out onto the mine field, scaring the living daylights out of Fox as he yelled at her to come back, only for her to make it to the other side unscathed "Ta-Da!"

"How in the hell did you know where the mines were?" Fox asked, looking over at her in amazement, more than a little impressed "You been this way before?"

"No, the mines were added after the takeover." Ino informed him, watching as he carefully followed her tracks to avoid the mines "But when Scorpion dove into my mind, I could see where the mines were placed." She grinned "Are you impressed?"

"So you read his mind as he controlled yours?" fox asked, looking at her teasingly as they continued down the hallway "I'd better not let you inside mine to be sa-!"

"Fox?" Ino wondered, looking at the agent in confusion as he flinched, all hint of humor gone from his blue eyes "What's the matter, you're looking pale."

"Get down!" Fox ordered, gesturing urgently as he espied the red laser sight trailing up Ino's right thigh only for a gunshot to sound out, the bullet tearing through Ino's leg "INO!"

He took cover behind the wall, looking over to Ino as he readied his FAMAS to take a shot if he could spot the sniper. Ino cried out as she landed on her knees, dropping her gun as she held her injured limb, only to be shot again, this time in her left leg.

"Aaaaaaaaahhhh!!!"

Fox grit his teeth as the Ino collapsed in a pool of blood, watching like a prisoner as she reached for the gun beside her, only for the sniper to nail her arm, earning yet another scream as the blonde rolled onto her back, bleeding badly. "Hang on Ino!" Fox called out, trying to move towards her, FAMAS at the ready, only to be met with a bullet that hit the wall right next to his eye, driving him back around the corner "FUCK! He's got me pinned!"

"Fox..." Ino called out weakly, the pain in her voice cutting through Fox's like a cold knife "leave me and run..." she chuckled weakly "I guess… I really am a rookie after all..."

"Don't talk shit!" Fox snapped at her, firing briefly around the corner in an attempt to startle the sniper, for all the good it likely did "Like hell I'm leaving you here!"

"That's what they want…it's the oldest trick in the book." Ino insisted, wincing from the pain as she tried to sit up "The sniper's using me for bait to lure you out."

"Damn!!" Fox snarled, narrowly avoiding another shot aimed at his shoulder as he ducked back around the corner "He's good, I'll give him that much."

"Shoot me, Fox!" Ino called out, looking at him desperately, her eyes desperate, shame, anger and fear battling for supremacy "My gun…I can't do it by myself!"

"Like hell!" Fox shot back, looking at her fiercely, the very idea making his hackles rise in anger "And don't you even THINK of moving! I'm getting you out of here!"

"I promised I wouldn't slow you down!" Ino called out, looking beside herself with shame "I...I...I can still help...I want to help you!" she shook her head "Fox, please! Save yourself! Go on living and don't give up on people!" she looked at him sadly "Don't forget me... Now get out of here!"

Fox was about to retort when his codec flared up, gritting his teeth as he ducked behind the wall, keeping an eye on Ino as he activated it.

-----------------------------------------------140.85----------------------------------------------------

Fox: Colonel! Calm the fuck down! I'm going to get her out of there!

Yamanaka: (Looking torn) Fox, it's a trap! The sniper's waiting for you to go and help Ino so he can pick you off...Don't do it!

Shizune: It must be Sniper Hebi, ANBU-HOUND's sharpshooter.

Fox: (interested) Sniper's usually work in pairs don't they? But this one's alone, huh? Makes my work a bit easier.

Shizune: You wouldn't say that if you knew her. She can wait for hours, days, or weeks, it doesn't matter. She'll just keep watching, waiting for you to expose yourself.

Fox: Maybe so, but Ino can't hold out that long...

Shizune: Fox, can you see Hebi from where you are?

Fox: There's nowhere to hide between here and the tower... so she's most likely on the second floor of the tower.

Yamanaka: If that's the case she can see you perfectly! It's the classic sniper's position!! At that distance you won't be able to hit her with a standard weapon either! You'll need a sniper rifle.

Fox: (Sarcastic) No kidding? And here I was hoping (Growls as Yamanaka starts to shout) Calm the fuck down Colonel! (Reassuringly) I'm going to save Ino, no matter what it takes.

Yamanaka: (Sighs in relief) Okay…I'm good…thank you Fox.

Fox: (Looking at a confused Shizune) What's up doc?

Shizune: (Surprised) Nothing... I'm just surprised you're willing to sacrifice yourself... you've got the genes of a soldier, not a savior.

Fox: I'm not the type of trash that's only interested in saving my own skin, if that's what you're implying. (Growls at her) I don't know what the hell my genes look like and I don't care. I operate on instinct.

Shizune: Like an animal?

Fox: (Annoyed) I'm going to save Ino. I don't need an excuse, nor am I doing it for someone else. I'm going to save her by myself, Colonel, so don't worry!

Yamanaka: (Grateful) Fox, thank you.

Shizune: (Ashamed) I understand. I'm sorry.

------------------------------------------End transmission---------------------------------------------

"Ino, can you hear me?" Fox called out, his tone reassuring "I'll be back for you, just hold on until I find a weapon to take this bastard out!"

"Fox…" Ino called out, unable to even look at him from where she lay "Don't waste you time…go on without me!"

"Save your strength!" Fox called out, his voice laced with enough authority to make a mountain stand to attention "That's a Goddamn direct order soldier!"

And with that he dashed off, a stray bullet clipping the sole of his boots as he made for the tunnel, reaching for his codec and dialing for Otacon.

--------------------------------------------------141.12------------------------------------------------

Fox: Otacon, are you there!?

Otacon: Fox? What's wrong?

Fox: I need a sniper rifle, can you get me one?

Otacon: No can do, I can conceal ammo and rations in my pockets, but carrying a rifle would give me away to the guards.

Fox: DAMN! What am I supposed to do then?! That Sniper's got Ino in the crossfire!

Otacon: Listen, the only place you can find a sniper rifle is at the armory, but they've beefed up security since you were there last, seems Kabuto didn't appreciate losing his hand too well.

Fox: Damn you Hound…right, looks like I'll have to get the rifle, can you do anything about the guards?

Otacon: I'll try…good luck Fox.

-------------------------------------------End Transmission-------------------------------------------

"Hang in there Ino…" Fox breathed, dashing of into the cave, the wolves not giving him a second thought "I promised I'd get you out of here...and I NEVER go back on my word."

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Things have taken a turn for the worst for our hero...

Ino: For HIM! I'm the one who dying here!

Naruto: Ino-chan...it's just CGI...

Ino: Don't you Ino-chan me! You better haul ass and get back there or it's the couch for you mister!

Tenten: I have to agree.

Naruto: Nani?!

Tenten: What? Consider it a challenge. (grins and undoes her top three buttons) You up for it?

Kyugan: Oy...ninjas...(nods towards a figure by the wall) You ready?

Figure: (smirks, lifting a sniper rifle onto her hip) Oh yeah...

R&R!!

* * *

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

Thing's are looking pretty grim for our hero aren't they?

Ino: TELL me about it! Those floorsare freezing!

Tenten: This is Yuki-no-kuni you know.

Ino: URUSEI! i don't wanna here that from someone that spens most of their time in the damn trailer!

Naruto: (walking n with a tray as sparks begin tfly) Now-now let's not fight lades...Look, I broghtHot Chocolate for everyone!

This is met with a round of approval as everyone, Ino & Tenten in particular, sip the sinfully delicious drinks with sighs.

Ino & Tenten: Heaven...(purr in contentment on a sofa)

Kabuto: (missing his coat wearing the waistcoat) Nice one, but aren't you due on in five?

Naruto: Hah? (eyes clock) CRAP! Gotta run!

* * *

File 8: Temptations Torture.

Backtracking to the armory whilst Ino lay on the floor at the mercy of the enemy was the most tedious, nerve-wracking experience Fox had ever faced to date, he hadn't felt this powerless since his very first mission prior to being scouted for ANBU Hound, when his plattoon had been pinned dwn my enemy fire in a minefield. True he'd gotten out of that alive, but no-one ever forgot the sight of a comrade flying through the air in several different directions.

He was so worried about Ino, lying there at the mercy of the world's foremost sniper, that he almost got caught sneaking back into the hangar, only to snap the guard's neck and bury him in a snow drift before the man's eyes had finished widening in surprise.

'Dammit! Calm the fuck down!' he ordered himself, catching his breath as he waited, crouchd near the drift like a snow lopard, hoping like hell the bastards didn't radio in to check on the man. As the seconds passed on, seconds he could literaly FEELL slipping through his fingers, he made his move, slipping into the hangar, idly noting that not only were the security lasers currently offline, but the tank he'd blown to crap had been removed from the clearing and was lying in heap at the back.

'Something about this is definitely off.' He muttered, scowling as he crouched under one of the remaining tanks as a patrol marched by 'They HAVE to know I'm here by now…that sniper must've gotten a good look at me earlier too so they have to at least know wht Ilook like.' He scowled as the elevator came up, eyeing the location of the guards, before making a run for it, sliding in just as the doors shut, catching his breath as he hit the button for the armory. 'Which means…they have to have guards stationed everywhere at the very least.'

Before the Elevator reached the botto he leapt up, positioning himself so that he was clinging to the roof in a way that didn't obscure the lighting, nodding in approval as the door opened to admit several balaclava sporting guards, armed with FAMAS rifles and an air of professional alertness. After a preliminary sweep, they sauntered off, the apparent leader calling in to report the false alarm, though Fox could tell from the man's posture that assing around this time would prove disastrous.

'Too bad Sasori's stealth camo was damaged in the fight or I'd have taken it.' he muttered, eyeing the guards' patrol routes via his internal radar, making yet another mental note to 'thank' Tenten for the device as he cautiosly slipped down from his perch onto the elevator floor and out into the trapped hallway the second he memorized their pattern. Shadowing a guard, making a mental countdown and keeping an eye on hi radar as he did so, Fox made his way towards one of the store-rooms he hadn't checked yet, slipping in just before a second guard rounded the corner at the far end of the hall, the automatic door opening and shutting with a barely audible hiss.

Taking a minute to ensure he hadn't been spotted, exhaling softly as the gurd marched past, none the wiser, Fox swiftly began ransacking the room for anything useful, offering s silent thanks to whoever was listening as he lifted a brand new PSG1 from it's crate, automatically checking the sniper rifle over for flaws before grabbing as many magazines for it as he could.

'Most of this stuff looks brand spanking new.' He noted with a frown, eyeing the remaining crates and packages as he checked the rifle for maintenance 'Hasn't even been fired…' he noted, refittingthe barell 'they must've been planning this attack for some time now.'

Ignoring the codec call from the colonel, in no mood to listen to the old man's orders at the minute, Fox slipped out of the armory, timing his exit just as the guards were out of view, slipping into the elevator and riding it up to the hangar, which, to his relief, was still all but deserted, meaning it was simply a matter of a mad dash out of the hanger and across the blizzard-torn field before he was back at the storage facility, all the while counting down the seconds, praying against all logic that Ino was alright.

He knew that it was a fools hope, he'd seen men die of blood loss long before now, and she'd lost way too much blood from the get go before he'd gotten off his ass to get the rifle. He fought back the urge to curse Otacon and his apparent ineptitude, but logic eventually won over anger. A disembodied Sniper rifle floating down the hallways was the last thing he needed drawing attention to him.

'One thing's was for certain,' Fox growled, sneaking through the facility hangar again, eyeing the walls for concealed guards 'I'll be damned if I keep this losing streak with hostages, I'm getting both Akimichi and Ino out of here if it kills me.'

Thinking about the good doctor made him wonder if he could convince Otacon to help out, only to shoot that thought down in flames. A wealth of knowledge he might be, but the corpulent otaku would only provide the sniper with yet another target, one that Fox couldn't afford to provide. He needed the man's information, far too much to risk losing him at this stage in the game.

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Otacon sneezed, scaring the crap out of some poor guard that seemed to be coming down with a cold. After making sure the coast was clear, and especially that no-one had raised the alarm ove his disembodied sneeze, he beat a hasty retreat, the pockets of his lab coat filled the brim with rations and various first aid tools hed swiped from he canteen and nearby sickbay.

The guard in question, a certain pony-tailed slacker, picked himself off the canteen floor, eyeing the deserted cafeteria warily, before turning back to his meager meal of sub-standard regulation chicken soup, which he'd had to heat up himself. "Mendoku-CHOO-se…" he muttered, sniffing in annoyance as he spooned more of the disgusting, for lack of a better word, SLOP, into his unwelcoming gullet "Why'd she have to take my damn clothes…"

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Traversing the MC storage facility took some time, especially with the bulky rifle taking up space in his arms, Fox not waanting it out f his sightfor a second. The guards appeared to be on high alert, actually patrolling in pairs rather than going solo like before, each checking the other's blind spots for trouble. But then that's what having a psychotic, invisble dead guy witha sword running around did to people.

A few spent magazines aimed at the far wall and he was through, riding the elevator all the waydown to the second basement level, traversing the barren, silent hallways before dashng through the commander's office, shooting Sasori's prone body a glare. "Couldn't have told me that Hebi was up ahead could you?" he growled, reigning in his desire to kick the corpse, barely, before rushing past the hidden door into the passageway beyond, ignoring the wolf-hounds as they crooned for his attention, actually glaring at the few more daring ones that followed him to the opposite door.

Back in the facility, he made his way back to the minefield, were a ombination of nerves and frost covering Ino's tracks caused him to take slow, painstaking steps as he struggled to recall the exact path through the hazard, tearing down the following hallway as soo as hewas clear, only to pull up short as he reached th end.

Ino was gone, the only sign of her was the patch of blood on the floor, which was already starting to freeze. Before Fox could ponder what was going on a bullet clipped the wall next to him, prompting him to crouch behind it, making himself as small a target as possible as he readied the PSG1 for action. "Alright bitch." He growled, loading the weapon and removing the safety, forgoing the dot sight as it would give away his position long before he could pick out the enemy "You want a shoot out? I'll give you one."

He waited for the next shot, pressing his back against the frozen wall, rolling out of cover as the shot came, using the echo to determine the sniper's position, opening fire just as he caught the flash of her sight trailing towards him. A grunt from the barely noticeable figure confirmed the hit, but rather than attempt escape, the enemy opened fire again, Fox rolling to the side to avoid being hit, even as he heard the bitch make a run for it, her rifle aimed at his position even s she crabwalked to the side.

"Suppressing fire? Not likely!" Fox growled, rolling out from cover, wincing as a stray bullet clipped his shoulder, his aim jolting as he fired, the round clipping her on the shoulder rather than the throat as he'd intended, though th blow seeed to spin her off her feet, sending her out of sight "Damn!" he cursed, rolling back under cover as he waited for her response, only to scowl as nothing but sience methis ears "Did I get her?"

Not one to take a chance, he strapped the rifle across his back and drew the SOCOM, not prepared to deal with the rifle's cumbersome reload-time between shots if it came to a firefight. As he passed Ino's bloodstain he paused, looking around for the woman in concern, wondering if she was even still alive. 'She's tough' the blonde reminded himself, recalling the woman's confident smirk 'Plus she's the Colonel's little girl, and he was a right hard-ass back in the day.' He nodded, trying to remind himself the entire time as he made his way along the passage towards the tower, and failing miserably 'Damn…' he cursed 'this is why I hate getting involved with people.'

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Fox inched his way toward the door at the end of the passage, SOCOM at the ready, only to whirl round as several heavily armed guards rappelled down from the ceiling behind him, their FAMAS rifles aimed at him warningly, their eyes hard and alert. Cursing softly, Fox held his hands in the air, glaring balefully at the guards as he waited for one to approach, ready to use him as a human shield as he took the others down.

"It's hard to miss when you're this close." A female voice noted, Fox turning his head to glare at the woman approaching him, her rifle pointed squarely at his chest from behind the soldiers "Toss your weapon over here." She ordered "Slowly now, these guys have itchy trigger fingers."

Fox growled, but complied by placing the SOCOM on the ground, sliding it towards her with his foot, one of the guards picking it up even as Hebi, for indeed it was her, and another guard approached him, pulling down the hood of er fur-lined field jacket as she walked. "You're a real fool, coming down here like this." The sniper noted, an amused look on her face, her brown eyes dancing in amusement "A first grade idiot."

"This idiot managed to clip your shoulder." Fox pointed out, noting the tear in her jacket as he caught a glimpse of her cleavage, which she proudly had on display "A lady sniper, huh? That's a first for me."

"Do you want to die now?" Hebi growled warningly, aiming the rifle under his chin, titin his head back "I'll have you know over two thirds of the best assassins in the world are women. I could have killed you the second you popped out of cover." She smirked "Of course, I could kill you after your girlfriend if you want."

"I'll die after I kill you." Fox shot back, matching her glare for glare even as the guards shifted uncomfortaly, even as Hebi shook her head, letting out a small chuckle.

"Is that right?" she asked coyly, a hint of approval in her tone "Well at the very least you've got spirit, unlike most of my other targets to date." She lowered her gun and ran her hand through her purple hair, eyeing him up and down appreciatively "I am Sniper Hebi…and I never let my prey escape."

Fox tensed as she approached, resisting the urge to flinch as she placed her fingertips against the sides of his face, almost lovingly. "Such a handsome face…" She noted softly, smiling all the while as she moved her fingers in small circles "You and I are going to have lots of fun ogether...Got it?"

With a speed that suited he moniker perfestly, Hebi scratched her nal diagonally across his cheeks, leaving a trail of marks down the sides of his face, drawing blood even as Fox grunted in alarm, more from the suddenness than the pain. "I've left my mark on you..." she informed him coyly, holding his face wihher hads as she spoke "I won't forget it...until I kill you, you're all I'll think about."

"Nice to be wanted." Fox taunted, smirking at her coyly despite the blood on his cheeks, only to grunt as the guard behind him whacked him upside the head with the butt of his rifle, sending the agent slumping into the purple haired woman's chest.

"You're a fast one aren't you?" Hebi noted with a approving smirk, holding her prey in place and gazing into the muddled blue eyes as they shut, before letting him fall to the floor, unconscious.

"Take him away!" a guard ordered, several others moving to drag the man off, only to freeze as he felt the cold, unforgiving barrel of Hebi's PSG1 under his throat.

"Remember…" she warned, looking into the terrified man's eyes with a coldness that had nthing o do with the surrundings "He's MY prey, and mine alone…if you take him from me, I'll have no choice but to hunt YOU."

And with that she sauntered off, leaving behind a terrified group of guards that were in need of a change in pants…and not entirely out of fear.

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As he swum blearily back into the realm of semi-consiousness, Fox was dimly aware of a sensation of coldness on his back, but every time he tried to move his head to investigate the matter, it threatened to split open like a coconut filled killer bees. He hadn't had a headache this bad since after the Zanzibar mission…where'd gotten completely sauced in order to bury the memories under muntain of dead braincells.

"Don't kill him yet." A cultured voice ordered, echoing slightly in the recesses of his mind, rousing him somewhat and adding to his headache "I want him alive. No more accidents like the DARPA Chief."

"Yes." Hebi's voice agreed, sounding insistent and a little stern, a shudder wracking through the agent as he recalled the last time he'd seen her "He's my target…and mine alone."

Hazarding a look, Fox opened his eyes tenderly, looking up into the overhead medical lamp in confusion. He tried to shield his eyes, only to snap fully awake as he realized he was bound to whatever he was lying on like a rack, the sound of computers humming in the background did nothing to comfort him. "Can you hear me, Solid Fox?" the cultured voice asked, sounding decidedly proud and eager at the same time, Fox stilling instantly to buy some time "Have awoken?"

"He's tougher than I thought..." Hebi noted with what sounded like approval, though Fox couldn't be sure if that was good or not "I can't wait to hunt him again."

"Do you know who I am?" the cultured voice continued "I always knew that one day I would meet you. The man who stole what was rightly mine...my birthright." He chuckled mockingly, the sound of a trench coat rustling as he drew closer "Me? I'm the man you stole everything good from. And now, after the sacrifice of our brothers... after 30 long years, finally the two of us meet. The brother of light…and the brother of dark."

Fox honestly didn't have a clue what the man was going on about, sounded like a cheap sci-fi movie to him, but he didn't doubt for a second whom the owner of that voice was "Do you need his DNA too?" he heard Hebi ask, resuming his struggle to escape without drawing undue attention.

"Yes, I want a sample while he's still alive." The cultured voice ordered after a moment's pause, cleary having given up on talking to Fox while he assumed he was still asleep "We need it to correct the Genome Soldier's mutations.

"So we'll be able to cure them?" the sniper asked, not sounding too bothered, as if the lives of the grunts meant as little to her as watcing ants squashed on the pavemen.

"We still have to get our hands on Danna's DNA." the cultured voice reminded her pointedly, earning an pert snort from the woman and an amused chuckle from someone else.

"Have they given in to our demands yet?" Hebi asked, only to scoff at some unseen gesture "Told ya the old bastards won't give in, they act all hih and might for the cameras, but in the end they'll put politics first, that or look into property abroad."

"You're right," the cultured voice noted with what sounded like grim satisfaction, as if he'd been HOPING the government would refuse his demands "That's why they want to avoid any leak about their precious new weapon."

"Boss," Kabuto's voice called out suddenly, sounding amused "it looks like our friend is awake."

Fox froze at the one-armed man's voice, only to jolt as the bed he was strapped to flipped forwards, bringing him face to face with his redheaded doppelganger, who was smirking at him with his arms crossed, a sheathed Nodachi in one hand as he stood, bare-chested under his black coat, despite the raging blizzard outside.

For the first time in history, the Twin foxes stared into each other's eyes, their faces differing only by the scratches Hebi had left on Fox.

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"I see you left your mark Hebi." Liquid noted, eyeing the small scratches that had formed on his twin's face, reaching out a hand to stroke them lightly "Other than that, there definitely is a resemblance, don't you think, Outoto?" he smirked at Fox, his blue eyes dancing with silent mockingly "Or should I call you Aniki? Quite frankly I'm as in the dark as to the matter as you are..." he lowered his hand and snorted "Anyway, it doesn't matter." he smirked, spreading his arms wide "You and I are both the last surviving 'sons of Danna'."

He scowled as his cell phone went off, miffed at his big speech being cut into, pulling it out hurriedly with a snap "It's me..." he reported, frowning at the conversation "What? Those idiots!" getting himself under control he scowled "All right Oni. I'll be right there." He stuffed the phone away, muttering curses under his breath as he turned to Hebi and Kabuto "Those senile old bastards aren't responding to our demands." He growled "They obviously don't believe our sincerity," he smirked at this "so we'll launch the first one in 10 hours as planned."

"Told ya." Hebi scoffed, leaning against the wall with her hands behind her head, drawing more attention to her cleavage and smirking at the restrained Fox playfully, asi if seeing him trussed up as gving her ideas.

"Looks like you read them wrong." Kabuto noted, sounding oddly chipper despite the fact he was missing a limb, sending covert looks towards his purple haired comrade as he spoke.

"Perhaps" Liquid allotted with a scowl, holding his chin "But something is definitely wrong…Normally Konoha's the first to the negotiating table." His frown deepened as he shot his restrained brother a suspicious look "They must think they've got something up their sleeves."

"So it's come down to it, has it?" Kabuto noted with a smirk, head tilted to one side, his graying hair glinting in the light of the room "We're going to drag Konoha all the way to hell and back with the Warhead."

Liquid merely grinned at the older man, causing him to shiver at the look in the redhead's eyes before turning on his heel. "I've got to take care of some launch preparations." The bare-chested man stated, nodding towards his captured twin "You're in charge here, Kabuto."

"But of course." Kabuto offered with a bow, before nodding towards Hebi with a welcoming smirk "What about you my dear? Care stay for the show?"

"Not interested." Hebi replied with a disdainful sniff, looking over at the captured Fox with a coy smirk, her eyes dancing with mirth "I prefer to torture my prey on the run."

"Kabuto," Liquid called out, turning slightly in the doorway to fix the bespectacled man with a glare that could freeze mercury "Don't screw up like you did with Chief Homura."

"But of course." Kabuto offered with a another bow, a knowing smirk on his features "That was an accident. I didn't think a pencil pusher like him would be so tough." He looked at the redhead concernedly "What about that ninja?"

"He's already killed 12 of our men." Liquid noted with something akin to approval in his tone, apparently he shared Hebi's opinion of the genome grunts "Whoever he is, he's some kind of lunatic...we should've recruited him."

"Bastard took my hand..." Kabuto reminded the man with a growl, glaring at his crippled limb with loathing "How the hell could he have gotten in here without being seen?"

"Perhaps there's a spy among us..." Liquid opined, shooting his twin an accusing glare that was returned with equal venom "Sasori's dead, but we managed to determine what killed Gato and Tako." Another glare sent towards the restrained blonde, before switching to Kabuto "We're shorthanded, so make this little torture show of yours as short as possible."

"Torture?" Kabuto asked, sounding mildly affronted as he pushed up his spectacles, a twisted smile creepin onto his face "Such a crude word…this is an interrogation."

"As you wish." Liquid allotted, before turning to leer at his twin one last time, a coy smirk on his face "See you later, my brother..."

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Fox glared at the retreating form of his doppelganger, fighting the restraints in a vain attempt to break free and throttle the man with his bare hands, only to glare at Hebi as she pushed off the wall and sauntered towards him, leaning close to his ear with a smirk. "Your little girlfriend's still kicking," she whispered, smirking as he ceased his struggles, nibbling his ear before kissing the side of his cheek "Catch you later, handsome..." she promised "next time we'll play for keeps."

Fox stared at the purple haired woman in confusion as she left the room, wondering why on earth she'd tell him such a thing, only to look up as Kabuto started talking. "Fascinating woman…" The one armed man noted calmly, as if talking about the weather "QUITE insane." he added after a moment's thught "Once she picks a target, she doesn't think about anything else. Sometimes she even falls in love with them before she kills them." He smiled as the door closed behind the woman, her footsteps receding into the distance "Finally, just the two of us. How are you feeling?"

"Not too bad." Fox shot back snidely "Finally caught up on some much needed sleep, but missed the mint on my pillow." He snorted mockingly shooting the man a mocking glare "That, and the company wasn't to my tastes."

"I'm sure hebi wouldn't have minded keeping you company." Kabuto noted with a wry snort "But I do apologize for the lackluster treatment. Perhaps a demonstration of some of the nicer features of that bed of yours would suffice?"

"Where are my things?" Fox asked, not liking where this conversation was going and already formulating an escape in his head "I've had bad experience with room service stealing my stuff in the past."

"Oh don't worry, you're things are all here." Kabuto assured him mockingly, nodding towards a cardboard box in the corner "Konoha was taking quite a chance sending you here unarmed. Someone must have had a lot of faith in your skill." He smirked at the prisoner mockingly "Too much faith it would seem."

"Least I'm not crippled." Fox shot back, smirking as the man scowled, internally relieved they hadn't noticed the storage function on his jacket "So, you're planning to launch a new type of stealth weapon with Metal Gear huh?"

"Why don't you go ask old man Yamanaka for the full story?" Kabuto shot back, smirking at the look of confusion on the blonde's face as he held the optic disk from Gato up for him to see "By the way, you got this from President Gato didn't you?"

"What if I did?" Fox replied cryptically, still trying to figure out what the man had meant by asking the colonel and not liking the scenarios that werecoming up in his head.

"Is this the only Disc? There's no other data?" Kabuto continued, waving the thing under his nose for emphasis "So there's no other copy?" he asked at length, before pocketing the disk "If not, that's fine."

"Is Ino okay?" Fox asked suddenly, glaring at the man as fiercely as he could, which was quite fierce indeed, he'd once chased off a snarling Rottweiler with it "I swear if you've laid one hand on her-!"

"Relax," Kabuto called out with a snort, not impressed in the least by the theatrics, outwardly at least "She's not dead yet, Hebi must have been feeling generous." He smirked at Fox "But if you want her to stay that way you better start answering my questions right now."

He got into Fox's face, all manner of geniality gone as he looked into the younger man's eyes with a coldness that seemed to seep into Fox's bones "You were holding one card key." He reminded the man "Where are the other two? What's the trick behind that key!?"

"Hell if I know." Fox shot back, smirking as confidently as ever as he matched the man glare for glare "Why don't you try asking Gato…whoops, he's dead huh? Them's the breaks."

"I see…" Kabuto noted coldly, before turning his back to the man and walking over to a switchboard "In that case…we're going to play a game, Fox. And we'll find out what kind of man we really are." He flipped a few switches and the machinery hummed to life ominously "When the pain becomes too great to bear do feel free to throw in the towel." He called out, smirking coyly from behind the control panel "But just so you know…once I'm done with you…it's the girl's turn to play."

Fox didn't even have time to blink as the current was turned on, several thousand volts surging through his body as he titled his head back, teeth clenched tight to avoid biting through his tongue as he screamed, his cries echoing throughout the complex.

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Liquid paused in his steps as he caught the echoes of his sibling's screams, closing his eyes and tilting his head back, a twisted smile on his face as he sighed. "Ah, but if I could have that sound to lull me to sleep each night." The redhead noted, several of his guards taking steps away from him as he began to chuckle darkly, only to sigh midway "But no time for that now…I'm certain Kabuto can draw things out as long as possible."

He smirked, shooting an eye down the corridor as he did so, before resuming his march towardshis destination, his sheathed Nodachi at the ready.

"Try not to die too soon…brother."

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Ino winced as the screams finally died away, wondering who on earth was being torturd this time even as the door to her cramped cell slid instinctivley tried to sit up, only collapse with a gasp as her wounds to kept her from rising off her back. She turned her head weakly, gazing in alarm at the purple haired woman leaning against the doorway, recognizing her immediately as ANBU Hound's Sniper.

"I hate the cold." Hebi noted offhandedly, a slight grimace on her face as she rubbed her arms under her suit "just being on this lump of ice makes me miss civilization…the only things that move are the damn soldiers."

She approached the bed, Ino desperatly trying to back away, only for Hebi to hold her down, kneeling over her. "But that's okay." The purple haired woman opined, leaning close to the stunned blonde with a smirk on her face "You're gonna keep me warm...till my prey comes to me."

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Fox coughed as the current was shut off, dimly aware of Kabuto giving orders to some soldiers as they removed him from the torture machine. He couldn't even open his eyes as a result of the pain, every muscle felt like it was disconnected from his brain and made from lead ropes.

"Not bad…" Kabuto's echoing voice called out appraisingly "I'd expect nothing less from a son of Danna, you didn't crack even once." He walked forwards, lifting up Fox's face by his hair to look him in the eyes. "Oh, and don't worry about your girlfriend," He assured the half dead agent "I'm the type that keeps my word, even if I don't look like it." he smirked coldly "But it looks like I'll be seeing you again after a while…take him away."

'At least…Ino's safe…' Fox noted, slumping the second he was released from the restraints, only for the guards to pick him up and drag him, none too gently, along the floor to wherever it was they were taking him.

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"Where's Hebi?" Liquid asked, looking around for the sniper with a frown, "Don't tell me she actually stuck around for Kabuto's little show?" he wondered, sounding a little unnerved at the prospect.

"She said she'd handle the interrogation of that woman we captured personally sir." One of the soldiers replied with a salute that could cut silk, the type that he most likely practiced in front of a mirror every night to pull off.

"Did she now?" Liquid replied with a smirk, thoroughly unsettling in the fact it wasn't his usual menacing one, but more of a perverse leer "Does that room have cameras?"

"I…think so?" the guard offered, following his superior to the security room, where several monitors were running, only to gapeat the sight of another guard lying passed out in a pool of blood on the floor "What happened?!"

"The interrogation is under way, that's what happened." Liquid replied with a smirk, settling into the chair and grinning as he watched the blonde on the screen arch her back, her toes curling as Hebi enveloped her like her codename suggested "And me without any tissues."

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"Mmmm…I like that." Hebi purred, coiling around the younger woman appreciatively, basking in the warmth she provided "I can see why Fox keeps you around."

"We…we aren't like that!" Ino countered, though she trailed off with a gasp as the sniper nibbled on the joint between her neck and shoulders, her limbs shivering at the feeling.

"No?" Hebi repeated, looking the gasping blonde over coyly, "More for me then…I hate sharing anything…" she smirked "And who wouldn't want to see if the man can live up to his legend?"

A hand coiled down to grope Ino's ass, the blonde's eyes widening in alarm as she gasped, only to be cut off as Hebi's mouth clamped onto her own. Struggling proved futile, as it only seemed to make the woman hold on tighter, the blonde wincing as her purple-haired tormentor continued to feel her up.

Eventually, Hebi broke the kiss, smiling hungrily down at the Colonel's daughter as she tried to catch her breath. "Mmmm…it seems the prey has good taste, even if he doesn't know what he's missing." She chuckled, pulling the zip of her jacket all the way down, eliciting a wide-eyed stare from her captive "Now then…let's get warmed up shall we?"

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"Oh yes…" Liquid noted, a leer on his face as the moans coming off the speakers echoed through the monitor room, his escort having collapsed in a pool of blood behind him "Let's indeed…hm?!"

He spun round, slicing the air behind him with his nodachi, only to scowl as he saw nothing there "Damn…getting edgy." He muttered, before turning his gaze back to the screen, leer promptly reforming on his face.

Unnoticed by the redhead, a transparent silhouette was watching the action on the screen with rapt attention, crouched on the ceiling like some invisible spider, his giggles silenced by his helmet's audio filters.

'Damn I wish I was there…' Hound sighed, shaking his head wistfully as he watched Hebi feed off the colonel's daughter 'Damn…and here I'd thought ANBUHOUND had gone to hell…in that case call me a sinner!'

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Well...that was...interesting...

Ino: (Wrapped in a blanket) I'LL SUE DAMMIT! THIS WASN'T N MY CONTRACT!

Anko: (Wearing a nightgown and not much else) Ah suck it up princess, (smirks) We all know those moans weren't an act.

Naruto: What moans? What's going on?

Ino: NOTHING!

Anko: Hoho...you wanna find out Naru-kun? (Starts undoing her nightgown)

Naruto:...!

Kyugan: No cheesecake for you unless you review!

* * *


	9. Chapter 9

DAMMIT! Ten minutes to curtain call and no sign of Naruto!

Anko: Here he is! *Holds up a drained Naruto, stripped to the waist and barely concious* Figured I'd help him get in character.

Kyugan: Now that's a showman people! Get the set together!

Kakashi: *Quirks eyebrow as Naruto gets dragged off* 'Get in Character' eh?

Anko: *Smirks ferally* What? you know how hard it is to exhaust that kid?

* * *

File 9. Genes

Fighting to remain conscious, Fox grimaced as his body continued to jolt, the rough, uncaring hands of the guards hurling him into a cell, leaving him shirtless on the cold floor, the door sealing behind them as they left, not without taking a few kicks at him first. "Assholes." The agent grunted, though it was with his usual mocking smirk, having suffered worse treatment in his days as a trainee for ANBUHOUND "Could've at least given me a shirt."

Sitting up with a grunt, he eyed the almost barren cell with a sense of approval, a single bed, no cover, plain white walls, and a toilet, standard interrogation cell, just like mama used to make. Standard, that is, save for the rotting corpse lying discarded in the corner, dressed in a medical robe, a tag on the big toe.

"Looks like I've got a roommate." Fox joked, crawling over to the cadaver on his elbows, too weak to get his knees under him, wincing at the smell as he drew in close "Hey buddy, ever heard of a bath?" he joked, only to frown, pushing back a strand of hair to reveal the face underneath "What the hell?!"

It was Homura, the skin might by sagging, littered with rot and maggots, and the beard tattered and unshaven, but there was no mistaking the face of the DARPA chief, the first of the hostages to die.

"How the hell…?" Fox wondered, looking over the cadaver in confusion, giving it a brief once over even as his CODEC sounded in his ear.

-----------------------------------------------140.85----------------------------------------------------

Yamanaka: (Looking concerned) Fox! Are you okay?

Fox: (Grimacing) I've been better.

Shizune: How's Ino?

Fox: Dunno…Kabuto said he'd leave her alone…but other than that…(grunts) I hear Konoha basically gave Liquid's demands the finger.

Yamanaka: (Closes his eyes in silent prayer for a second) Fox, We're trying to buy some more time…

Fox: (Annoyed) Colonel…you remember what my conditions were for this mission? Why don't you cut the bullshit and tell me EXACTLY what's going on.

Yamanaka: (Face a mask of confusion, eyes guilty) What are you talking about?

Fox: Metal Gear was designed to launch a new type of nuclear warhead, wasn't it? (Scowls at the Colonel's look of alarm) You knew it all along, didn't you?!

Yamanaka: (Looks away guiltily)...I'm sorry...

Fox: (Scowls)...Does the Kage know about this? I wanna know how far this shit trail goes.

Yamanaka: (Resigned, yet oddly relieved) As far as I know, as of yesterday, the Hokage had not been briefed about the Bunta Project.

Fox: The old 'Three monkeys' excuse huh?

Yamanaka: Yes. And tomorrow the Hokage and Kazekage are scheduled to sign the Start 3 Accord.

Fox: An Anti-MC campaign…Now the deadline makes sense.

Shizune: And the reason we can't let word of the terrorist attack go public.

Yamanaka: We still haven't even ratified Start 2 or dealt with the issue of TMDs. This has to do with the Hokage's reputation and Konoha's place as the dominant superpower.

Fox: (Sneering) You're a real patriot, you know that Colonel?

Yamanaka: (Pleading) Please, Snake... just stop them.

Fox: Why should I? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just lie here and let the world get blown to shit?

Yamanaka: (Absolute certainty) Because you're the only one who can…Because you're not a cold blooded killer.

Fox: (Remains silent for a few minutes)…I want the truth…plus anything you got on the new MC warhead.

Yamanaka: (Honest) I told you before. I don't know the details.

Fox: (Coldly) Why don't I believe you? If the situation is so serious, why don't you give in to their demands? Just give 'em Danna's damn corpse and be done with it. (Frowns) Or is there some reason you can't do that? Something else you 'lack the clearance' to tell me?

Shizune: Publicly, the President has been very vocal in his opposition to eugenics experiments. We don't want the existence of the Genome Army to go public.

Fox: That it? (Snorts at Yamanaka's silence) Feh, to hell with you then!

Yamanaka: I'm sorry.

Fox: 'Sorry' doesn't get me out of this cell…and right now I could do with a transfer, my roommate's stinking up the place…or his corpse is anyways, it's the DARPA Chief.

Shizune: Poor man.

Fox: Pity my nose, not him, smells like he's been dead for a week at the least. (Frowns) Strange thing is, despite all that, his blood's been drained out too.

Yamanaka: (Alarmed) Drained!?

Shizune: An attempt to slow down decomposition perhaps?

Fox: The hell should I know? You're the medic here not me.

Shizune: But Fox…didn't the Chief die a few hours ago?

Fox: Yeah, heart attack, right in front of me. (Frowns) So why's he suddenly stinking out my cell?

Shizune: (Confused) What could it all be about? The only thing in his blood were the nano-machines and the transmitter…

Fox: Who cares? Right now the terrorists have both codes, so you can probably expect a missile on your doorstep any minute now.

Yamanaka: (Grim) Damn. Is there any way to prevent it?

Fox: (Silent for a minute) Gato mentioned some sorta emergency override device… a countermeasure that ArmsTech installed secretly, but it needs three special card keys.

Yamanaka: (urgent) Where are they?

Fox: I got one from Ino, courtesy of Gato, but the other two could be hidden anywhere on this oversized freezer. (Snorts) Besides, I don't think I'm going anywhere soon.

Yamanaka: (serious) No choice, forget the keys for now; your top priority is to destroy Metal Gear itself. (Apologetic) Fox…I'm sorry to place everything on you, but you're all I've got. Bust out of there and get to the Communications Tower.

-----------------------------------------------End Transmission---------------------------------------

'Easier said than done Colonel.' Fox growled, coughing slightly as he tried to keep his still shuddering muscles from giving out on him. It took all the effort he had to crawl to the sole cot in his cell, scrambling onto it with a grunt, hoping to regain the use of his muscles soon. Sending a glare towards the rotting corpse in the corner, he flipped it off weakly, before sitting up on the cot in a lotus stance and closing his eyes.

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"Well now, isn't he diligent." Kabuto noted, watching on a monitor as his former 'guest' slipped into a meditation stance right out of the ANBUHOUND textbook, "If only Danna could see you now Fox…no-one takes the meditation exercises seriously these days."

Grunting as he shuffled around the chamber, the torture specialist stuffed the CD with the test data into his pocket. Liquid didn't know of its existence yet, so far as the redhead was concerned it had been destroyed by Gato, and frankly thought the better for it. He didn't see past his current agenda, namely using Rex to send a warhead via airmail to wherever the hell he wanted, to think about possibilities should the plan fail.

'In that, he's hardly Danna's son.' Kabuto muttered with a wry smirk 'The old man was hardly infallible, Fox's previous victories are living proof of that, but he at least didn't put all his grenades on one bandolier.' He shot the meditating blonde a calculating look, shaking his head with a sigh before marching off to get something stronger than coffee to drink, his wound was acting up again in the cold.

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Several minutes into his meditation, Fox's eyes snapped open, locking onto the opposite wall as he exhaled, slowly moving his joints experimentally. 'Spasm's are gone…' he muttered with approval 'The rest bought me some recovery too…but without a good meal I'm not going anywhere soon.'

Starving a prisoner was a tried and tested interrogation tactic, one that all Foxhound recruits were put through during basic training to prepare them for such eventualities.

'If Sergeant Ibiki could see me now…' he muttered, a wry smirk as remembered his drill instructor for torture and interrogations, a giant, bear of a man that was mostly composed of scar-tissue, a decidedly POINTED sense of humor, and a fanatical love for his job. He considered 'scrapping' anything less than 75% of the new recruits in their first session a failure, and he'd maintained that record up until the last time Fox had seen him; just prior to the Zanzibar mission.

'Not that reminiscing about ol' Scarface is going to get me out of here.' The blonde snorted, only to blink as a gut-wrenching growl echoed through the otherwise silent hallway just outside outside his cell 'The hell…?'

"Mendokuse…" the guard muttered, the balaclava doing nothing to hide his spiky-ponytail, as he leant against the bulletproof glass in exhaustion "Why'd she have to take my clothes? What'd I ever do to heh-HAAAACHOO!".

Fox winced as the poor schmuck staggered against the reinforced, bulletproof window, leaning against it for support as he caught his breath. The guard's eyes were rheumy and bloodshot eyes, classic signs of a cold, not something you wanted stuck in the middle of the Yuki no kuni in a blizzard.

"Mendokuse…what're you looking at?" the guard sniffed, shooting a glare at his captive, only for his face to pale under the balaclava as his stomach let out an audible growl "Oh...oh god…I knew that soup was off!"

Fox merely quirked an eyebrow as the guard shuffled off, one hand covering his mouth as he retched, the other holding his stomach as he made a dash for the torture room door. 'Note to self…don't eat the soup.' he muttered, a bead of sweat running down his head as he ignored the growling of his own stomach. 'Though that might not be an option if I don't get something into me soon.'

"Psst! Fox!" a voice called out, putting the agent on guard instantly as he failed to detect the source "Over here! By the door!"

Following the voice, Fox narrowed his eyes at a large, distorted patch of empty air outside his cell, like looking through a steamed up mirror. He continued to glare out the grill even after Akimichi deactivated his camouflage.

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"Hey there Fox…" the portly doctor greeted, smiling nervously as the shirtless agent drew closer to the door "Man, when they carted you off I was worried I'd never see you agai-!"

The good doctor's cheer was instantly cut off as Fox's arms lashed out through the bars, seizing him by the lapels of his coat and hoisting him off the ground for the second time that day.

"Where in the hell have you been?!" Fox demanded, in a foul temper and not willing to be considerate about it, but then being tortured did that to him. "Just where in the hell haveyoubeen hiding your fat ass while Meryl and I were being interrogated?!"

"Hey lemme go!" Akimichi demanded, more than a little unnerved at how someone in Fox's position could still manage to lift him off the ground "I've been laying low until the guard changed! Even with my stealth camo it's not easy to get this far in!"

"Then hurry up and get me the hell out of here!" Fox demanded, shaking the man once again for emphasis, anger fuelling his arms, wardning off the last of the tingling "I don't got time to be sitting in this shithole!"

"Put me down first!" the doctor demanded, only to yelp as he was dropped, none to gently, onto the floor "Jeez…you and Liquid are brother's alright, same way of asking for 'favors'." He muttered aloud, only to flinch as he realized he'd done so, looking up at Fox's face warily, only to find stubborn remorse in those blue eyes than the murderous glare he'd been expecting.

"Sorry…" Fox muttered, rubbing his eyes with a sigh, one hand on his hip as he shook his head, apparently getting himself under control "Pressure's getting to me…and being barbecued earlier didn't help."

"Otacon nodded, stepping up to the bars to get a better look at the agent, wincing at the smell coming from the room "Man…smells like a slaughterhouse in there...What'd they do to you?"

"Not me." Fox muttered, tilting his head towards the corner of the room. The portly professor blinked, looking through the grate in confusion, only to stumble away from the bars in horror, biting off a scream at the sight of the DARPA chief's cadaver. "Yeah, not a pleasant thing to wake up next to is he?" Fox quipped, a wry smirk on his face as he watched the egghead hyperventilate "Not much of conversationalist either."

"How can you joke around at a time like this?!" Otacon demanded, looking ready to horf his cookies any minute from the sight and smell, but handling it better than Fox had thought he would "Those bastards…what'd they do to him?!"

"No clue," Fox admitted honestly, leaving out the fact he'd met the man early on in the mission and the cadaver's advanced decomposition "But unless you work some of that otaku mumbo-jumbo, I'm gonna laying next to him in a couple of hours."

"Sorry Fox…" the doctor sighed, looking apologetic as he held his arms out helplessly "But only the guard has the cardkey to this door, and It's a closed circuit, so I couldn't hack into it even if I had the time.

"Fat lot of good you are then…" Fox muttered, stepping away from the door with a dismissive grunt, only to flinch at the hurt look on the doctor's face looking in at him from the other side of the door "Sorry."

"None taken," Otacon replied with a self-mocking smile "I know I'm hardly a stunning example of the cavalry." He reached inside his coat, rifling through the seemingly endless multitude of pockets before pulling out a what looked like a cup of instant ramen, packet with a roll in it, and a thermos "I figured you'd be hungry in there."

Fox was ravenous, and it showed as he took the food eagerly, pouring the hot water from the thermos into the ramen cup and leaving it to simmer away while he tore into the bread, which turned out to be some kind of sausage roll. "If you need more food, I can bring some more later." Otacon offered, watching as Fox turned his attention to the noodles, slurping them up expertly, before washing down the roll with the remainder of the broth. "I also got this level 6 card," he added, flipping the piece of compact silicon towards the agent, who caught it expertly "it'll get you out of that torture room at the very least, if you manage to bust out of here."

"Better than nothing I suppose." Fox admitted, tucking the thing into his belt, along with the others "Any word from Ino?" he asked, looking up at the man's silence to find he'd turned an interesting shade of magenta "What?"

"Um…well…" Otacon stammered, looking anywhere but directly AT Fox as he spoke, "I uh…saw her…on the cameras…with Hebi…"

"What?!" Fox yelled, concern for his fellow blonde racing through him as he leapt to his feet, Otacon steppinng back out of reach of his hands just in time "Damn that Kabuto! I knew I shouldn't have trusted that manipulative Sunnuva-!"

"Erm…not like that Fox…" Akimichi stammered, his face decidedly red "I mean I saw her WITH Hebi…"

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Fox stared dumbly at the otaku for a second, his mind tried to comprehend the man's words with some minor complication, then his eyes widened perceptibly, a trail of blood flowing down his nostrils as he gaped like a landed trout.

"Yeah…that was my reaction too…" the portly doctor admitted with a chuckle as he watched the agent's mind race with possibilities. "Pretty much everyone's reactions to the recording actually…'cept maybe Kabuto and Liquid."

That sobered Fox up rather quickly, his game face rising to the fore despite the wad of tissue paper he'd used to stall the bleeding, making a mental note to swipe a copy of the record on his way out. "Otacon, I've got to get out of this cell." He stated, coming right up to the bars again as he spoke "I have to take Bunta down before they can launch the warhead."

"The only way you can get to Bunta's hangar is if you can get past the Communications Tower" the portly professor muttered, holding his chin as he thought the matter over "The blizzard's too fierce for the land route."

"Good enough, but first, you have to get me out of here!" Fox reminded the man, slapping the door for emphasis "From what you've told me that guard's got the key, with your Stealth chamo it should be child's play to-!"

"Whoa-whoa-whoa! Hold on there!" Otacon stammered, eyes widening in alarm as he held his hands before him "I'm just a civilian scientist remember? And the camouflage is easier to notice up close!"

"Oh grow a pair would ya!" Fox groaned, slapping the door again "Look, the guy's a Grunt through and through, on top of that last I saw him he was either sneezing a lung out or fighting down the urge to toss his cookies, Christ, INO took him out and left him naked on the floor!"

"Ino-san has had basic training!" Chouji countered desperately, only to freeze as the sound of a door opening, followed by the sound of a flushing toilet, reached them "Oh man he's coming back..."

"Wait!" Fox demanded, only to curse as the portly otaku disappeared in a burst of static, following the vague distortion as it slunk away, slipping past the guard as he returned from the restroom "Dammit!"

"God, what now…?" the guard muttered, looking in Fox's direction with bored, sickly expression under his balaclava as the door shut behind him "Mendokuse…I know it can't be too pleasant in there but would you just shut up and bear it…S'not like I like being near that thing any more than you do."

Fox merely scowled at the man until he looked away, before prowling around his cell like the caged beast he was, eyeing the walls suspiciously. 'No vents to crawl into…none large enough anyway…' he muttered 'And the walls are like the rest of this place, reinforced steel.' He snorted 'But then I suppose not every place can be Outer Heaven…'

Smiling in fond remembrance of the numerous times a well placed punch or kick had served as a substitute for a key, Fox continued to pace around the cell, wondering, not for the first time, how it was he wound up in these messes. In almost every mission he'd been on he'd been captured at least once, sometimes on purpose whilst others, like now, through sheer carelessness, and once, during his rookie days, out of sheer stupidity, but thankfully no-one learned of that because he'd killed his captors shortly after.

"Yare-Yare…" his guard moaned, arms stretched over his head in a yawn "I'm not getting paid enough for this shit…" He looked up as his relief showed up, saluting the guard before waving lazily at the captive Fox "Later jailbait."

'Prick.' Fox muttered, though it was with a wry snort on his lips. The guard was so irritating he seemed to grow on you. Sighing in annoyance he leant back against the wall, trying to figure a way out of the cell before Liquid and his goons launched, shivering slightly as he felt the chill from the walls, only to blink, a cold smirk appearing on his face.

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The replacement guard muttered to himself as he patrolled the short hallway outside the cell, shooting the captive agent inside a dirty look every time he passed. He'd lost a lot of comrades to the fucker, and wanted nothing more than to just open fire right now and fill the guy with hot, steaming lead. But he was under orders, and grudge or not, he wasn't stupid enough to defy Liquid…there were prices for disobedience that the redhead made all too clear.

That…and word had gotten round that Hebi had marked the blonde, which meant anyone that took the pleasure of her kill from her was literally volunteering to take his place…and he wasn't up for a game of 'dodge the bullet' in the snow.

'Sassy bastard.' He growled, watching as the blonde smirked at him, as if HE was the one in control, he even had the audacity to WAVE! 'Just you wait…soon as Liquids done with you…and Hebi…I'll be there to pick up what's left of you…'

The sound of metal clanking caused him to spin round, eyes narrowing as he aimed his weapon at the source of the noise: a metal thermos. Frowning, he stepped closer, keeping an eye out for possible, ambushers, before turning his gaze back to the cell.

It was empty.

"HOW THE HELL?!" he swore, running up to the glass and searching the cell from all sides, eyes narrowing as he espied the bed. Rushing round to the door, he flashed his card at the scanner, before dropping to his knees and aiming under the bed, not willing to give the bastard a chance to pull a fast one, only for his eyes to widen as it turned out there was no-one under the bed either.

It was at that moment that Fox dropped from his perch on the ceiling above the door, having been griping onto one of the air-vents, too small to crawl through, but providing more than enough finger-space for him to hoist himself out of sight for a few minutes.

Before the stunned guard had a chance to even blink, Fox's boots slammed into his face, bone and cartilage snapping audibly as the blonde used his swing to add momentum to the fall, the guard's body crashing backwards onto the floor as Fox rolled expertly to his knees.

The entire encounter had taken less than a minute.

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Propping the guard up against the wall to avoid suspicion for the time being, liberating him of several grenades and spare magazines in the process, Fox turned on his heel and made for Ocelot's 'Playroom', his hackles raised as he crouched near the doorway, not putting anything to chance. He'd been lucky to notice the vent in the cell, and Akimichi's little snack break had been a double blessing, but he wasn't about expect a hat-trick anytime soon. After all, those who relied on luck to get them through a mission tended to find it abandoning them at the worst possible moments.

But it seemed the lady still smiled on the blonde, for the torture room was empty, save for the sound of running machinery and the low humming of the bed's charger.

Suppressing a light shudder at the memory of the agony he'd suffered on the thing, Fox turned his back on it and instead made his way over to the cardboard box Ocelot had apparently placed his things into, blinking as he pulled out his flak jacket.

'Kinda honest for a terrorist.' He muttered, pulling out the upper half of the sneaking suit as well, pulling them on with relief, the chill in the air dying down somewhat. A quick rifle through the pockets, however, revealed that all of his spare cartridges had been taken, though his weapons were still in the box…those that Ocelot had found anyway. 'Looks Like I'm doing a munitions run first.' Fox noted, honestly not that surprised 'But it looks like the cats out of the bag regarding the S3 system…oh well, was bound to come out anyway.'

Holstering his SOCOM and slinging his sniper rifle over one shoulder, Fox slammed a magazine into his FAMAS and proceeded towards the exit, slipping into the hallway, recognizing the passage to the cells where he'd met Ino for the first time, sweeping it with the FAMAS, crouch-walking towards the elevator, keeping an eye out for hidden cameras.

Even as he climbed into the elevator, the hum of the machinery carrying him towards the armoury, Fox couldn't quite shake the feeling that it was STILL too easy. Kabuto was a renowned torture and interrogations expert…according to his dossier, the man knew EXACTLY how hard to push someone to get all he wanted out of them. Yet all he put Snake through was a little electro-therapy, something they covered in ANBU-HOUND's basic training. Admittedly at tolerable human safety levels but still something that any veteran of the unit could tolerate without much duress.

It was almost like the gunman was going easy on him, which just raised even more questions in the blonde's mind.

Shaking his head, Fox quickly ducked out of view as the elevator stopped at the armoury, only peaking out when he was CERTAIN the coast was clear, before heading out to pick up supplies.

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"He's gone." Liquid noted, his tone calm as he watched the guards drag the corpse of their comrade out of the holding cell to be properly disposed of "I trust you left an appropriate... reward for him?"

"But of course." Kabuto chuckled, pushing his spectacles up his nose with his remaining hand, the light dancing off them sinisterly "I'm certain he'll have a real…blast with it."

Liquid fought the urge to shudder at the man's bad pun, it was so bad it actually hirt to listen to it. Just what you'd expect from a torture specialist when it came down to it. "And what of Hebi?" he asked.

"I haven't seen her since she left." Kabuto replied, shrugging offhandedly as he quirked an eyebrow at his leader, an unspoken taunt in those eyes "I had assumed you were aware of her movements."

"Blast…that woman is unpredictable as ever." The redhead growled, whipping round and marching out the door, his Nodachi held tight in his hand as his subordinates stepped quickly out of his way.

"That's what makes it so hard to predict where she'll strike from next." Kabuto replied, smirking to himself as he turned his gaze back to the guards "And do something about that stiff would you?" he asked, nodding towards Homura's rotting corpse "This is a holding cell, not a damn morgue."

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Hebi grinned down at Ino, the blonde having passed out from exhaustion and embarrassment some time ago. Rising sultrily off the bed, the sniper made her way to their discarded clothes, picking up her jumpsuit from the pile and slipping into it, not bothering to pull up the zipper before walking back to the bed, gazing down at her…toy, with approval.

"See you later sweetheart," she promised, whispering into the trembling blonde's ear, before pulling a thick, thermal blanket over her "I'll come 'play' with you again after I deal with our little…Fox problem.'

Ino gave no response, but then Hebi wasn't expecting one, turning on her heel and marching out the door of the cell, a hungry smile on her face as she stalked down the corridor.

'Come to me…little foxy…' the sniper purred, her eyes dancing with a strange type of…HUNGER, as she felt a shiver race up her spine at the memory of those blue eyes glaring at her in defiance 'Come hunt me…while I hunt YOU.'

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Something always struck me as of during the interrogation sections.

Why, after going through Snake's gear, did they leave his ammo for him?

Alright, Ocelot loves to play mindgames, and was manipulating Snake to do his and EVA's dirtywork the whole time, but come on.

Leave the weapons maybe, but take the ammo so he doesn't get suspicious or too relaxed. It'd also give you more time to prep while he sneaks around picking up more things to kill you with.

Kabuto: That IS something I would do.

Naruto: Freak.

Anko: Oh don't be like that Naru-chan...or I won't let you play snake eater with me anymore...

Naruto: *flushes magenta, nose bleeding*

Kyugan: Damn ninjas...

R&R for more tactical espionage action!

* * *


	10. Chapter 10

I gotta admit, this one's taking abut longer to get back into.

Kakashi: That's what you get for deviating for so long.

Kyugan: Zip it or I'll activate your built in tazer (Looks around as Kakashi whimpers) and where the hell is Naruto?!

Naruto: (Pantless) I'm here! Let's roll!

Kyugan: (Deadpan) Forget something there sunshine?

Naruto: Eh? (looks down) oh F-!-ck! Where're my pants?!

Tenten: (Hair rumpled) Over here hot stuff (Holds out pants from behind changing room door.

Naruto: Thank's Tenten! (runs off while pulling on pants) I owe ya!

Tenten: Oh you bet you do...(starts writing in a notebook) Let's see...should I use the whipped cream or...

Kyugan: I love my job...

* * *

File 10: Cardboard and Choppas.

Fox was just slipping the last of his pilfered rounds into his vest, having fully restocked whilst avoiding the guards like the plague.

They seemed to be actually pulling their damn weight for once, as no sooner would one disappear round a corner than another popped up to catch anyone sneaking around behind their buddy's back. It wasn't that harder to adapt to, hell he actually welcomed the extra effort, but it DID limit his access to the bloody elevator, as two had apparently taken it upon themselves to camp the bloody thing like a flag in a Halo tournament.

Just as he was trying to figure out what to do next, he felt the telltale ring of his CODEC sound in his ear, ducking into one of the store-rooms to avoid being noticed as he took the call, scowling as the display screen gave a familiar burst of static.

-----------------------------------------------------140.48----------------------------------------------

Deep throat: Yo!

Fox: Fellatio…long time no phlem.

Deep throat: *Sigh* You really need to cut that out…you could hurt someone's feelings like that.

Fox: (Snorts) I don't trust people that don't have the balls to show their faces. I may owe you a few for bailing me out before, but you know WAY too much to be a simple good Samaritan.

Deep throat: Aw…and here I was willing to warn you about the little surprise Kabuto left in your suit for you.

Fox: Surprise? What the hell are you talking about?!

Deep throat: That would be telling now wouldn't it? Let's just say you'll get a real…BLAST out of it.

Fox:…!...

------------------------------------------------End Transmission--------------------------------------

Fox had no sooner broken the connection with the enigmatically smug bastard than he began rifling through his coat, trying desperately to find the hidden threat, only to scowl as he pulled a small, compact case of explosive death in the guise of a ramen bowl, super size too, from amongst his stockpile of rations. 'Explosive chili flavor…' he noted with disdain, sweat dropping at the poor taste, as he looked the thing over 'Trying to kill me with ramen…that's just WRONG.'

Chuckling to himself, the blonde noted the amount of time left before detonation, a matter of seconds really, before grinning to himself in a decidedly vulpine manner.

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The guards stationed outside the Elevator were some of the best, and they knew it. They'd heard how the others had been dealt with for their failures, Liquid was one of those commanders that believed in publicly admonishing his subordinates, and had no intention of letting the intruder reach the lift, even if they had to blow the whole thing to kingdom come.

Of course, neither of them was expecting the man to step casually around a corner, smirking at them playfully before casually lighting a smoke, as if completely unthreatened by their presence. Several retaliatory rounds of FAMAS fire soon put an end to that, the cocky bastard ducking back around the corner, the guards racing down, their fellows swooping in from the sides as they made a bid to put an end to the bastard one and for all.

It was only as the reinforced doors of the secondary armoury closed, leaving them standing there blinking at one another, that the guards noted the ticking ramen container in the middle of the floor.

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Fox shook his head as the explosion died away, the screams of the men smothered by several layers of reinforced steel and concrete. A part of him felt a little bad about the whole thing, after all, explosive or not, ramen was ramen, but everyone made sacrifices in a war.

Ignoring the CODEC call from the colonel, not willing to waste the time confirming his continued good health, the agent waited a few seconds before opening the armoury door, wincing as smoke wafted through the air, the sound of groaning men and burnt flesh filling the air.

'Looks like they'll live…but it won't be pretty.' He noted, shuffling past the semi-conscious guards and making his way to the elevator, riding it all the way back up to the tank hangar, only to bite off a curse as he was forced to duck back in to avoid a passing patrol. 'Wonder what all the excitement's about?' he muttered rhetorically, slowly edging his way out, noting several armed sentries guarding the entrance to the area he'd fought the tank 'Damn…those guys look serious…guess Liquid's through dicking around.'

It was then that Fox something a little…different, about the hangar room, namely that there was a set of tire tracks, fresh ones, that led from the doors that led to the heli-port, to the door currently guarded by the patrols. Even as he looked on, the hangar doors opened, and the truck he'd pilfered his SOCOM from rolled in, several grunts milling around it, some of them carrying boxes or crates. 'A supply run?' he wondered, noticing that several of the boxes were for ammunition or medicine 'Looks like they've upped their game a little bit if their handing out additional support.'

He scowled, running his eyes over the crates, before smirking as he espied a nearby pack of boxes.

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The lazy guard groaned, popping his back into place as he stepped back. Apparently he'd gotten out of guard duty just in time, he certainly didn't envy the poor schmuck that had replaced him. He'd seen them carrying his corpse off for disposal, not a pretty way to die.

So here he was ferrying ordinance out to those lazy bastards in the main facility, apparently Liquid was amping up security and the patrolmen guarding the hallways were to be outfitted with additional rations, medical supplies, the works.

Of course, this made the guys stuck here on the outskirts a little testy, after all, the intruder had gone through THEM before those lucky stiffs in the main facility had to lift a finger, but did the boss send any gravy their way?

"Mendokuse…" He muttered, rolling his shoulders stiffly as he stepped back from the truck, "And of course I, as errand boy, am getting the worst of it." He muttered, "S'not my fault we pulled the damn short straw…S'not that much warmer in the main facility either."

Yawning he turned round to climb into the truck, only to blink as he espied one last Cardboard Box of ordinance lying near his foot. Scowling, he looked over at the guys that were supposed to be helping him, only to see them lazing against the side of the truck, sharing a smoke out of sight of the cameras. "Bastards…" he muttered, but without much emphasis, turning back to the box and hoisting it into his arms, grunting as he was forced to use his legs to support it.

"Damn…s'like deadweight…" he grit out, nearly dropping the package several times before he managed to shove it into the back. Leaning against the side after his hernia-inducing struggle, sending the snorting guards a glare as he caught his breath, the pineapple haired soldier climbed into the front of the truck, kicking it into gear before waving his I.D at the guards, waiting patiently for them to deactivate the laser grid, before driving out towards the facility.

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In the back of the trailer, hidden amongst the crates of ammunition and boxes of rations, Fox grinned through the peephole in his cardboard hiding place, resisting the urge to give the watching guards the finger. For one thing, as cathartic as it might be, there was always the chance that they'd spot him, and he didn't feel like having to fight his way through again.

Well alright, he was itching to start a fight, who wouldn't be after a dose of electro-shock therapy? But the fact was he didn't have the time to dick around with Liquid's band of pussies. Ino needed his help, Ocelot had the Data disk, and from the sound of things, Liquid was all geared up to launch a warhead wherever the hell he wanted.

'Most likely the Daimyo's back yard.' The blonde thought with a snort, recalling the look on his double's face with distaste 'Feh, good thing I cut my hair…freaking ponce looks like some sort of cultist with that fanatical look in his eyes…even Danna wasn't that bad."

Even to this day, Fox couldn't figure out the Legendary Soldier that had not only made him what he was today, but had literally come dangerously close to screwing the world over for reasons that, even now, weren't 100% clear. Many claimed he'd snapped, others claimed he was just a bloodthirsty war-hound that simply couldn't live without the smell of gun smoke and death. But Fox had gone up against him twice, hell he'd TRAINED under the legend PERSONALLY, and had been considered 2nd only to Gray Hound Himself, if only because the older agent had been at it longer.

No-one alive knew Danna better than Fox did, and what he knew of the man made it easy to see that the old man had been 100% sane, if driven, when he'd attempted to use the original Metal Gears all those years ago.

'Maybe it's genetic?' Fox muttered, snorting self-mockingly as he hunkered down, waiting for the truck to come to a halt, already planning his next move 'From father to son…the madness spreads.'

He shut up as the truck finally came to a halt, the familiar tingle of the MC storage room washing over him as the hatch opened, revealing several suited heavies, each one aiming their weapons at the inside of the truck, no doubt making sure the idiots on the other side hadn't let him slip past.

"Truck's clean." One of them, the apparent leader if Fox was any guess, called in on his radio, the rest of the guards standing down and promptly beginning the dauntless task of unloading the truck.

"Sir…don't you think we should check the cargo itself?" one bright young spark asked, Fox flinching inside his cover, reaching into his pocket for a flash grenade as he readied the SOCOM for the inevitable firefight.

"Don't be Stupid." The leader snapped, glaring at his subordinate with something akin to disgust in his eyes "There's nothing in here but Cardboard boxes, who in their right mind would think to hide in one of those?"

"But sir…" the bright young lad began hesitantly, only to sigh as he realized he wasn't going to get anywhere with the guy, bowing his head in submission and lifting Fox's box out with a grunt "Damn…what they pack in here? An RPG?"

"Looks like it's headed for the commanders office." Another grunt noted, nodding towards the words printed on the side of the box, a curious look in his eyes "Y'think Liquid's got the munchies or something?"

"I'm supposed to know?" the grunt muttered, shuffling towards the elevator as the rest started sorting things out amongst themselves "Someone get the door will ya?" he implored, only to be ignored by the rest as they began pulling ammo and rations out of the truck 'Pricks', he muttered nudging the call button with his elbow 'Just because I'm a rookie they think they can walk all over me…'

He stumbled through the doors as the lift arrived, setting the cumbersome package on the ground before turning to press the floor for the commander's office, wondering if the crew had disposed of Sasori's corpse yet. The redheaded psychopath had given him the creeps when he was alive, he didn't need to think about what the stiff's corpse could do.

Fortunately, Fox pistol-whipping him upside the head with the butt of his SOCOM would ensure the rookie didn't have to contemplate such gruesome thoughts for long.

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"Good to see the next generation aren't the retards their forefathers were." Fox quipped, smirking as he stashed the rookie in a locker, stripping him of his ammunition and tying him up with his own belt straps "Then again, he shoulda been more persuasive."

Grunting dismissively, the agent crept along the corridor, keeping an eye out for genome grunts that had once more decided to occupy themselves with patrolling the hallways, though admittedly in a tighter fashion than before, but then again taking out a guy that could deflect bullets with his brain just may have unnerved them a little.

After all, ANBU HOUND was considered the cream of the crop, veritable gods among men, and here Fox had already bested them three times, though Kabuto was proving to be more of a hindrance than he'd like.

'Note to self, shoot off a leg so he can't run away.' The agent muttered, snorting at how fickle he was being as he slipped into the commander's office, noting that someone had finally gotten round to hauling off Sasori's carcass, though they hadn't seen fit to mop up the blood-stain he'd left in the carpet. 'Either way, not my most pressing concern right now.' Fox muttered, slipping past the bookcase entrance, which for some inexplicable reason the idiots hadn't thought to close, and making his way through the labyrinth of wolf-ridden tunnels, the pack growling at him at first, before simply panting eagerly as they pressed against him, eager for attention.

"Yeah I missed you too mutts…" he chuckled, ruffling their ears despite himself, reaching into his pocket and pulling out one of the ration packs he'd swiped earlier, "Here, dig in." he offered, holding it out to the leader, who sniffed it before giving the lupine equivalent of a fish-eye "I know it's awful, but it's all I got."

The pack, clearly not thinking much of the excuse but too hungry to care, promptly fell on the rations with abandon, Fox pulling out several more to keep them from ripping each other to shreds as he slipped off towards the exit, a grim expression on his face as he came upon the minefield that led to where Ino had fallen.

'I should've taken point…' Fox muttered, internally berating himself for letting the rookie put herself in harms way. For one thing, even if Hebi HAD nailed him first, he at least had the training to haul his ass out of the range of fire, even if he was bleeding bullets. Not only that, but Ino was supposed to be under his protection, true Col. Yamanaka had been stringing him along the entire mission, but the old man had been there for Fox when it counted before, hell he doubted they'd have left him alone as long as they did without the Colonel pulling a few short-hairs here and there.

So the memory of Ino lying there, her lifeblood pooling beneath her from the gunshots in her legs and arms, was simply yet another blow to Fox's psyche, the fact that he'd not only put another hostage in jeopardy, but that he'd failed one of the few friends he had from his days in ANBU HOUND.

He was dimly aware of the blaring of his codec in his ear, realizing with a grunt that he'd been ignoring it for the past ten minutes, deciding to at last assure the old man that he was still alive as he brought up the screen, only to freeze once again as he came across the patch of frozen blood where he'd left Ino to Hebi's tender mercies. He could still recall the blonde's plea for him to go, to not forget about her, to save himself and complete the mission. Her eyes as she looked up at him from the floor, so filled with compassion despite her condition, reminding him eerily of all the bunker-buddies he'd lost on the front lines, either as a result of his own mistakes or simply a result of bad leadership.

He didn't even realize he'd activated the codec until Yamanaka's face popped up in his line of vision.

--------------------------------------------------140.85-------------------------------------------------

Yamanaka: (Solemn, but understanding) Fox, about Ino...

Fox: (flinching) Colonel, I'm sorry...

Yamanaka: (Cutting him off) Fox, it's okay. (Face solemn) You did what you could, now let it rest. (looks off to the side) Ino…joined up of her own free will. I'm sure she was prepared for this.

Fox: (Stern) You're wrong. Ino thought she had to become a soldier... thought it was the only way she could think of to help her understand the decisions you and your late wife made.

Yamanaka: (Looking shocked and pained) …She said that?

Fox: (Carrying on with a scowl) She was nowhere ready for real combat. What the hell they were thinking transferring her here…(he sighs and trails off) I shouldn't have pushed her so hard....It's all my fault.

Iruka: (Annoyed) That's not like you, Fox. (Shakes head) Sorry for eavesdropping Colonel, (Looks at Fox sternly) but I just couldn't sit back and listen to this anymore.

Fox: Sensei...?

Iruka: (Looking compassionate) Fox, it's only natural for you to regret your actions, skilled as you are you're only Human after all. (He frowns) But you can't keep attacking yourself for things that happened in the past. (He smirks) You can't pull off the whole Emo thing anyways.

Tenten: (Sounding chipper) Got that right! So quit kicking yourself big guy. It doesn't suit a legend like you. (She smiles) Besides, if Ino's anything like her old man they'll be BEGGING you to come rescue her!

Yamanaka: (Frowning with good humor) And what's THAT supposed to mean? (Snorts as Tenten Giggles) Anyways, forget about Ino for now Fox. You're prime objective is to stop Liquid. (Becomes Solemn) Ino'd want the same thing too.

Fox: (Snorts) You're right. Hell, she'd probably shoot me again if I rescued her first.

Shizune: (Inquisitive) Ino's pretty special to you, Fox?

Fox: (Smirking) There aren't many women like her around, though considering her bad aim that's probably a good thing.

Shizune: (Smirking) That's not what I meant...C'mon, you can tell me.

Fox: (Uncomfortable) She's the Colonel's niece... and a combat buddy. (Snorts) Christ, what's with the damn police interrogation?

Yamanaka: (Chuckling) I guess it's in the genes. Shizune's grandfather rose as high as assistant secretary in the Interrogation Bureau during Tobirama's time.

Shizune: Y-yes, he was from Iwagakure, and he became a special undercover investigator to bring down the local triads.

Iruka: (Suspicious) Shizune-san…I thought you didn't have any family...?

Shizune: (Uncomfortable) Well...I...I researched it after I graduated from med-school. My grandfather was already dead by the time I learned about him. I never even had the chance to meet him. (Shakes her head to compose herself, ignoring Yamanaka's look of pity) Fox, good luck out there.

Tenten: (Cheerful) Yeah! I don't think they'll let you into the restaurant I've in mind if you're covered in blood!

Fox: (Smirks) I'll try to make sure none of it's mine.

--------------------------------------------End Transmission------------------------------------------

Chuckling to himself, feeling a little bit lighter after that heartening conversation, Fox made his way down the passage, this time keeping a diligent eye out for any more goons hiding in the rafters. After all, falling for the same trick twice was NOT how you survived in ANBU HOUND for any length of time, or at least it hadn't when HE had enlisted.

'Dunno about those genome grunts though…' he muttered, recalling how easy it had been thus far to slip past them 'I mean they're supposed to be genetically advanced right? Or did the government hire some washed out NAZI crack-sniffer to sell the idea to the public?'

Personally, Fox's money was on the stoned kraut, as he'd seen nothing out of the 'Next Generation' that impressed him, unless predictability was a desired trait in soldiers these days. That said, he had better things to do than worry about the ineptitude of trying to screw with Mother Nature, and so with a snort, he rushed towards the communications tower, sweeping the area with his FAMAS as he made for the staircase.

However, it seemed the guards, having caught him once, had gotten a little cocky in his absence. The few he encountered on the arduous climb upwards were either lazing about, half-assedly carrying out their patrols, or simply standing around trying to catch some sleep. Hell he bumped into two that were having a pissing contest over the railing, too occupied with trying to outdo each other they didn't realize he'd snuck up on them until they were looking up as his smirking face as they fell to their death's pant's hanging around their ankles as they screamed.

"Cool Runnings, Pissants." He mocked, pulling off a mock salute as he turned his attention back to the flight of stairs leading up the rest of the way, bracing himself for the chill as she stepped back out into the blizzard, marveling once again at the effectiveness of his sneaking suit and Shizune's cocktail as he clambered onto the roof, eyeing the giant satellite dish of the facility as it loomed in the night sky ominously, only to freeze as his hackles flared up, the familiar sound of burning rocket fuel reaching him as he cursed, leaping to the side just as three missiles crashed into the disk, sending fire and shrapnel in all directions.

'Crap in a hat!? Did the Colonel send in back-up?!' Fox wondered wildly, leaping out of the path of a flying I-beam, only to scowl and shake such thoughts out of his head. The Colonel had told him there WASN'T any back-up, outside the F-16's Liquid had shot down hours ago, and he highly doubted that Konoha was about to waste two more of their 'Finest' to help out an expatriate such as himself.

'And if they DID' he muttered, struggling to his feet as the roof shook under the continued missile assault 'They sure as hell wouldn't be taking POT SHOTS at me!'

A particularly fierce explosion brought the satellite dish down with a howl of twisted metal, Fox stumbling against the railing with a curse as he slipped on a patch of ice, sending him careening over the side into the abyss below. "FUCK!" he swore, hand snapping out like a viper to latch onto the edge, nearly wrenching his arm from its socket as he held on for dear life, bringing his other hand into play to relieve some of the stress on its straining twin, slowly heaving himself over the railing once again, touching down on solid ground with a grunt, the smell of smoke and fire filling his nostrils as he looked up, his eyes narrowing at the sight before him

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The communications tower was a wreck, the once clear pathway between the facility and BUNTA'S hanger a graveyard of shrapnel and debris, the passageway between them completely destroyed by rocket fire.

"God Dammit!" Fox swore, brushing his golden spikes in irritation, his bandanna whipping in the wind as he marched towards the wreckage, hoping against hope that there was SOME way across, other than investing in a set of snow shoes, only to shiver as a familiar noise reached his ears, the sound of helicopter blades slicing through the air.

"FOOOOOOOOOX!" Liquid's refined voice called out, amplified by the Hind-D's audio speakers as he hovered into view, the gun ship's search lights locking onto Fox, almost blinding him with their intensity "You did well to get this far, Outoto," the redhead applauded mockingly "But I'm afraid I can't let you get past here!"

"You have GOT to be shitting me…" Fox muttered, looking up at his 'brother' with a deadpan expression as the Hind drew ever closer "First a tank, now an attack chopper? Too scared to face me head on DICK-uid?"

"That's Liquid you uncultured cockroach!" the redhead snapped, despite the fact there was no way he could've heard him inside the chopper, glaring spitfire at his blonde double while reaching for the launch mechanism for his missile salvos "You're pretty arrogant after escaping from Kabuto, but you're not going any farther!!!"

'Wow…triple exclamation marks…' Fox muttered, sweat dropping at his 'brother's dramatics as he backtracked to the edge of the tower 'That can't be a good sign.' He cursed as his back pressed against the railing, looking down with a scowl, only to see the next landing was a LONG way down 'Hell of a drop, and I don't think it's too safe to risk climbing down anyways.' He looked around wildly, 'It's a long way down…and me without a bungee cord.'

"What are you going to do?" Liquid cackled, clearly mistaking Fox's furtive glances as an attempt to find cover "You think you can take on a Hind with your bare hands? Even Father wasn't that arrogant Fox!" he smirked, flipping a switch on his controller "Now you're mine!"

Fox swore, dodging out of the path of more missiles, only to slam against the base of the dish, waving smoke out of his eyes and cursing a blue streak as his twin launched another salvo right at him. 'If I stay here, I'm finished.' The blonde fox deduced grimly, glaring up at the Hind and wishing like hell he at least had a grenade launcher or something to take the smug smile of the bastards face, only to blink as he espied the rooftop fire hose lying next to him, several lengths of extra strength material that, if action movies had taught him anything, was perfectly capable of allowing a man to rappel down a building.

'Normally I'm not one to put much stock in movies.' He muttered, though he did enjoy the odd Fu'un-Hime movie from time to time, now there was a woman he wouldn't mind playing 'hide the snake' with 'But what the hell, any port in the storm.'

Grabbing the hose, wrapping a good bit of it around his mid-section, the scarred blonde pulled out one of his grenades, popped the pin and hurled it across the roof to provide a distraction, racing out from cover the second the searchlights lifted off him, only to grit his teeth as he heard Liquid's mocking cackle, the sound of two rockets tearing through the air towards him as he leapt over the railing into the abyss, a veritable firestorm at his back.

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Woo, things are heating up for our hero aren't they?

Kakashi: What the hell?! How come he gets all the best actions scenes?!

Kyugan: Main character? Duh?

Kakashi: But...Fuun Hime...

Yuki: What about me Kakashi?

Kakashi: 0_* What are YOU doing here?

Yuki: Motivation, I can't have Naruto-kun's big performance go down right? Speaking of which, where is he?

Kyugan: His trailer, can't miss it, it's bright orange and rocking from side to side.

Yuki: (Smirks) Oh is it now? (walks off) well let's see if we can't add another mark to the richter scale...

Kakashi: (Bent over double)...so....HAWT! Balls...crushed...against...plating...

Kyugan: Yeah, cyborg-exoskeletons and boners don't mix...

R&R for more Tactical Espionage Action!

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End file.
